Outcast of Equestria
by wweather
Summary: What if, instead of being raised at Redwall, Veil was raised by Fluttershy in Ponyville?
1. Chapter 1

DISCALIMER: I DO KNOT OWN REDWALL, BRIAN JAKES DOES. I ASLO DONUT OWN MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDHISP IS MAGIC, THAT WAS MAID BY HASHBROWN STUDIOS AND LOREN FOSTER.

ONce apon a tim there was being an evil ferret named Swart Sixclaw. He was call Swartt Sixclaw becuz he had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. He wore jeans, a leather jacket and tennis shoes, and he always wore his headfur slicked back like he was a character in one of those old 1950s movies like _Greese_ or _West Side Store._ Swartt Sixclaw was the leader of a army of evil animals that wanted to take over the wrodl. There were 100 ferrets, 100 weasels, 100 rats, 100 foxes, and 000 giraffes in Swartt's army. They all dressed and talked exactly like him. Swart also had a slave that was a badger. He was reel meen to the badger all the time and called him "Scumtripe."

One winter day Swartt and his hoard were camping in a forset. They were sitting aroud a fire and doing things like cooking food and sharpening their weapons and smoking. And then suddeny the heard a big loud noise.

Swart spat out his cigarette (he always smoked because he was a rebel) and stood uprite. Kicking a nearby stout, he snarled, "Trattak, go and see what's makin' dat noise." (AN: I FOUGHT THE WORD STOUT MEANT FAT BUT MY FREND SAID A STOUT WAS A KIND OF WEASEL SO I GUESS TRATTAK IS A REALLY FAT WEASEL.)

Trattak scuttled off obediently into the snow-laden trees. It didn't not take him long to find out what was making the big loud noise. "Over here, some stupid boid got itself froze to a tree!" he called out.

Swart went over to where the badger was tied to a log. He didn't have a white strip on his back like most baggers do. Instead he had a yellow stripe.

"Get up, Scumtripe, and give your master a ride over there," Swarrt said. He had an evil smile on his face and an even eviler one in his heart.

The evil ferrets, weasels, stouts, rates, foxes, and giraffes crowding aroud the flames (HAHA GEDDIT U REVIEWERS FLAMES?) jeerd and laufed as Swartt sat upon the badgers back and goaded it frowad, raking with his claws and slapping him with the flat of his sword blade. Hobbled close, the young bagder cold only take slow, hobbling steps. Anguished growls issued from his bound mouth as fumbled though the snow.

Swartt found it no end of a joke, shooting aloud for the benefit for his band, "Giddy up Scumtrope, ya big stripe dog, move!"

Swartt rode the badger over to the tree where da bird was. But it wasn't a bird! It wass instead… Rainbow Dash! Her wings were frozen to the tree.

"Well now, what have we here?' Swart ejaculated menacingly as he got off the badger's back. "A horse wid wings! Struck fast by da ice, are ya, horsey? Well, I'm sure if we thaw ya out you'll make another fine slave 4 me."

Rainbow dash raised her hoof and made an obscene jester at the ferret. "I'll never b your slaver!" she shooted angrily. "You can't restrain a Pegasus!" And she through a handful of snow in the ferret's face.

"You'll die fer dat!" Swartt snarled. He clawed across Rainbow's face with his six claws. Then he tried to raised his sword and kill her but she kicked him in his man thing (AN: ACTUALLY A FERRET THING LOL!) and he fell tp the ground as the other animals gasp.

"You won't get away for dis!1" Swart angried as he stepped back up on his feat. But then the badger sprung into action. Fierce anger borned in his eyes. Stretching his powerful young lims, the badger seized a bow of the hornbeam and snapped it from the ree with a single wretch. Smashing the bow against the tree trunk, he broke it into, then casting aside the thin end, he griped the heavier piece with both paws. It was about half his own heightm, thicker at one end then the other, like some huge rough club. He swung the branch and hit Swaert with it, roaring "Eeulaliaaaaaa!111111"

The badger's club thud hard against his foes six-clawed paw with a loud SKADOOSH noise. Swartt screeched and fell back injured, yelling to his creatures, "Stop dem! Kill dem!"

With a mighty heave, Sunflash pulled Raindow Dash away off the tree branch, shattering the ice that restained her. Then the Badger an the Pegasus were away, boning through the night forset. Burtsing with the energy of freedom, they traveled tirelessly, crashing throughh bush, briar, and bramble in a welter of falling snow.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX666XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back in th camp, all was confusion, smoke, ashes and freezing drak night. An fox, her name was Nightshade, was ministering to Swart, binding his hurt paw with a poultice of herbs ad snow. Swartt's wife Bluefen went over to them. Bluefen and nightshade were both waring poodle skirts like 50's girls.

"Shall we follow them an' kill 'em with arrows?" Bluefen asked.

The vixin answered without looking up form her task. "Yeah we better do it right way, before they get too far."

Bad-temperately, made Swart as if to raise his six-clawed paw and swipe out at them both, but the movement caused him to snarl in agony; his paw hung limp and throbbing. "Idiots! Get the fire goin', quick, before we fre4eze to ' death in the dark here."! he spat. "Follow them? With my paw smashed an' ruined? I give orders 'round here, mudbrains, we follow 'em when I'm ready, an' not before!"

With lightning speed he shot out out his good arm and grabbed Bluefen. His furious eyes fixed on the female ferret's face as he hissed, "But when dis paw's fixed an' I've rested by a food fire, there'll be no place dat badger d can hide from Swartt Sixcla. I'll follow dat one to the edge of the world of to Hellgates, and he'll take a long time at die at da blade of my sword. I'll hunt him to da death an' slay him bit be bit, if it takes me ten seasons!"

The vixen Nightshade continued binding Swart's paw, fixing the herbs and snow tight with mud form the fire wehre the earth had been and strips of aspen bark. "If you leave it later than this night, it will take you a lifetime," she said as she worked. Swartt winced as the dressing tightened.

Swartt winced as the dressing tight end. "shut yer slimy mouth, fox, always seein' the future, or sayin' dat ya do. I could fix your futre with one wing of my sword, that'd keep ya quiet!"

Bluefen was chocking under Swart's fereret looked at his wife as if just noticing her. "What're ya doin' gurgling' there? Didn't I tell ya to get a fire goin'? Trattak! Halfrump! Gerrout an' forrage for fry timber! The rest of ya, clean dis place up!"

Letter, as fresh flames licked hungrily across around resinous pine boughs, Swartt lay back gritting his teeth and muttering savagely "We'll meet again, badger. Make the best fo the few days you've got left. I'll find ya, Scumtripe!"

TO BE CONTINUED?… YES!


	2. Chapter 2

The badger did not stop running unti lit was broad daylight, cold and chrystal clear. He halted in a small clearing at the forest edge. Rainvow Dash fluttered ti one side as the hefty young badge threw himself in the snow and lay panting, tongue Lolling, as stean rose from his thick coat. After a while he sat up, cramming pawfuls of the cooling snow into his mouth and gulp them down.

Rainbow dash hopped about, testing her wings with short swoops, noting gratefully that her pinions were undamaged. Glade to be alive, she shook her Maine and spread her wings. "Few! I fought I was a boner there!" she said.

"Me too," said the badger. "For mnay seasons that ferret hled me slavery, dragging me around, hobbled and muzzled, straving, beating, making fun of me."

"good thing I came along to get you out of there, huh?" said Rainbow dash.

The badger smiled. "That's not the way I remember it. I seem to recall that if I hadn't stepped in, Swartt would have killed you."

"Oh, I don't know," Rainbow laughed. "I think I could have taken care of myself. But fangs (GET IT CAUSE IF GOTHIC) for saving me anymay. My name's Rainbow Dash. What's yours?"

The badger got a sad look in his face. Rainbow could see the depressing sorrow in his gothic red eyes. "I'm not sure," he said. "Swart Sixclaw always clled me Scumtripe, but I might have had another name before he captured me,, when I was very young…"

"Well, you've got a yellow mark on your face that's the color of the sun," Rainbow began.

"Yeah.."

"And you're pretty good with that mace.," Rainbow said, pointing ti the club in the Badger's hand. "why don't we call u… Sunflash the Mace!"

The badger laughed bappily and, standing an his full height, he spun the formidable hornbeam in his paws and roared, "I have a Lame! It is a good name! I no who I am… Sunflah the Mece! Eulalia!"

Then three more ponies came into the clearing, a purple Unicorn, a yellwo Pegasus, and a orange Earth Pony.

"Ther you are, Rainbow!" said the unicorn.

"We've bin lookin' for ya fer two days!" said the orange pony.

"Oh my goodness," said the Pegasus. I was so worried about you, Rainbowdash."

Then they sawed Sunflash. "Hey, who's this?" Asked the orange pony.

"This is my new pal Sunflash the Mace." Answered Rainbow Dash.

"I'm please to make your aquanince," said Sunflash. "What are your names."

"My lame is Twilight Sparkle," said the Unicorn holding out her hoove.

"Ah'm Applejack," said the orgne Pony, raising her hat.

"And my name's Fluttershy," the Pgasus said quetly. "I'm never met a talking badger before."

"Me neither," said Twilight. "Where are you from?"

Scratching her golden stripe, the badger chewed thoughtfully. "I'm knot sure. I think I had a mother, Bella or Bellen or something, 'tis hard 2 remember. I must have been very young. Boar the fighter, that's a name I recall, maybe he ws my farther, or my grandfather, I'm not certain. Soemtimes I dream about home, or maybe it's my imagine nation, but It feels nice. Them there's the mountain, was that my home? It is all very mexed up." The young badger looked quizzacly at his fiends (GET IT) the ponies. "But Swartt Sixclaw, I won't forget him!"

"Who is Swartt Sixclaw?" asked Twilight.

"Swartt sixcalw is an evil ferret that enslaved me for years,' said Sunflash. "He commands and evil army of vermin."

"What are te vermin?"

"They are rats, weasels, ferret and foxes."

"Luckily for Sunflax, I came along and saved him cause I'M AWESOME!" sad Rainbow Dash. Thr badger gave her a look. "Okay, fine, he sabed me."

'Were are ya gonna go now that yore free?" Applekack assed Sunflash.

The badger picked up his club. "When I;ve rested and had something to eat, I'm going back ther to slay that vermin Swart Sixclaw!"

"That doesn't sound like a very nice thing to do," said Fluttershy. "Do you really have too?"

Sun flash halted. "butt what else can I do?" he said, with a bewildered look on his young face. "Sixcalw is my enemy!"

"I have an idea," said Twilight.

"Okay what id is it?" Sunflash asked.

Twilight outlined her plane, which was simple and should be effective. "Why run after swart? He will be coming after you. Let this Sixclaw wear himself out trying to find catch you, while you stay here in Ponyville, where it is green and there is plenty of food,. There you can rest and grow strong."

"I can be your eyes and ears," put Rainbow dash. "I'll keep an eye for Swart and listen for information. Then, when you're strong enough, you can find Swartt Sixcalw again and take yore revenge!"

"Or not," Fluttershry whispered.

"Ok that is good plan," said Sunglash. "I will learn to think like a pony. Lead on!"

"Yew kin stay at one of our house's if ya want,' said Applejack.

"Can I stay at your house, Rainow Dash,?" Sunflach asked.

"Sorry, don't think you can," Rainbow dash laughed. "My home is in the clouds. But that's all right, we'll find someplace else for yo to live."

The five friends left the Everfree Forest and headed back toward Pontyville, laughing and talkin.g


	3. Chapter 3

So Sunflash came to Applejack's house.

"Yew kin stay with me," said Applejack. "Ah'll introduce ya to my family. This is Granny Smith, that's mah brother Big Macintosh, an' this here's mah liddle sister Apple Bloom."

Apple Bloom had never seen anything as big and furry as Sunflash. She clambered all over him, smiling into his Face and stroking the broad golden stripe on his muzzle.

"He's like a mountain with fur!" she exclaimed.

The badger stood stock still, fearing to move lest he upset the tiny filly. His huge face was wreathed in a pleased grin; he had never encountered a beast so small and affectionate. Granny Smith fussed about, throwing her apron up over her face in embarrassment as she chided Apple Bloom.

"Do come away now, leave the gentle beast alone. Lack a day sir, what must you think o' us all?"

The Apple family went away to prepare the evening meal, leaving Sunflash to enjoy the hospitality of their home. The badger took his ease on a thick woven rush mat. Surrounded by the peace and quiet of the homely atmosphere, he was soon deep in slumber.

In his dreams, Sunflash could hear waves lapping against the shore; he saw pale sand, sea and a mountain. A great feeling of longing swept over him, and he wanted so badly to be there, yet it seemed distant and intangible.

Reality seeped back slowly: a warm glowing fire, tantalizing odors, and Apple Bloom stroking his headstripe.

"Wake up, sir! Dinner's ready. Granny Smith says you'll take some feedin'!"

Applejack shooed her off. "Come away, you liddle rogue, let the pore critter up now."

Sunflash went to the table, where various concoctions were cooling. Granny Smith presented him with a jug. "It's only apple cider, but it's nice an' cool t' drink."

Sunflash had never tasted such good cooking. There was apple and leek soup, hot brown bread spread with apple butter, and a huge apple-and-greengage crumble. "Vittles do taste good after all that hunger," he said gratefully.

He had an enormous appetite, but Applejack would not hear of him stinting himself, saying "There's always plenty more where that came from."

"Ee-yup," Big Mac added.

And so Sunflash the Mace did full justice to the spread.

It was late into the night when he sprawled by the fire, warm, rested, and, for the first time in many a season, unable to eat another mouthful. He had never felt so contented in his life. He could hear little Apple Bloom in her bedroom, singing herself to sleep with a curious little chant.

"Arm not alas sand, way south in the west,

So star land a mat, that's where I love best,

Sand not as alarm, lone seabirds to ring,

And alas most ran, list to me while I sing."

Each time the filly reached the end of this strange ditty, she went back to the beginning and sang it again, her voice growing drowsier and drowsier until it was silenced by sleep. Eventually, the badger drifted off to sleep too. After many seasons of wandering, Sunflash the Mace had found a home.


	4. Chapter 4

ONE YEAR LATER

 _A letter from Twilight Sparkle to Princess Celestia:_

Dear Princess Celestia,

Well, the badger Sunflash the Mace has been living with us in Ponyville for a year now, or as he would say, four seasons. Applejack and her family have been teaching him about growing food, and he shows a natural aptitude as a farmer. Rainbow Dash is also quite fond of him- she's never met any creature who shares her passion for physical activity quite so much!

Tomorrow night there is to be a feast; we will be celebrating Sunflash's one year anniversary as a resident of Ponyville. We would be happy to see you and Princess Luna there. There will be many dishes made from the fruits and vegetables Sunflash has grown. The occasion promises to be a good time full of friends and fine food.

Your pupil,

Twilight Sparkle

Celestia put down the letter and turned to her sister. "Well, this sounds like quite an enjoyable event."

"Yes," agreed Luna. "We haven't been to Ponyville in a long time, it's mostly been Twilight Sparkle and her friends coming to see us."

"I would dearly love to meet this Sunflash the Mace we've heard so much about," said Celestia.

"I'd like to meet him as well," said Luna.

"Then it's settled," said Celestia. "I'll go find out when the next train leaves Canterlot."

Just then there was a knock on the throne room door. "Your Majesties!" a pony guard called. "You have a visitor."

"Who is it?" Luna asked.

"An old friend."

"All right, let her in," Celestia answered.

The door opened and in came a female badger. It was Bella of Brockhall!

"Hello Celestia and Luna," said Bella.

"Greetings, Bella," replied Celestia. "This is a rare and unexpected pleasure."

"Yes, wasn't it in Mossflower Woods when we met you last?" said Luna.

"Aye," Bella said wistfully.

"Does your father Boar the Fighter still live?" asked Celestia.

"No, he was slain in battle a long time ago, defending the mountain fortress of Salamandastron from sea rats, but I was not there to see it," said Bella. "Not long after your final visit to Mossflower, Boar set out for the mountain, the great questing place of Badger Lords. In the autumn of that year an evil cat named Verdauga Green Eyes and his daughter Tsarmina arrived with a great horde of vermin and took over Mossflower. My mate Barkstripe and I, along with the good animals, the woodlanders, tried to fight back, but Barkstripe was killed leading an attack upon Kotir, the cats' castle. Our young son went off to avenge him, but he never came back. The situation seemed hopeless. The cat ruled with an iron paw. Then one day a heroic mouse named Martin the Warrior came down from the north and fought a great battle with the vermin, driving them out of Mossflower. We were able to rally around Martin and begin to rebuild our troubled land. We built a great big castle called Redwall Abbey, where all the animals who were not vermin could live in peace and safety together. However, I was not content. I decided to go look for my lost son. I have been searching for many seasons, but I won't rest until I find out what happened to my Sunflash, one way or another."

The alicorn princesses had been listening to the badger's tragic tale with sorrowful eyes, but at the mention of the name Sunflash, their eyes widened.

"Your son's name was Sunflash?" asked Celestia.

"That's right."

"You may want to sit down," said Celestia. "We have something to tell you."


	5. Chapter 5

Sunflash the Mace straightened up from his labors, arching his mighty back. Little Apple Bloom and her two friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, imitated his movements impishly.

"That's enough apples for one day, good work!" Sunflash said, winking at the ponies.

"An' there's lots of apples left fer another time," Apple Bloom put in.

"Ee-yup," said Big Mac who was also there.

The big badger looked around at the Apple family's orchard. Sunflash had worked hard alongside his friends. He liked cultivating the land, finding he had a natural flair as a farmer.

Sweeping the Cutie Mark Crusaders up with both paws, Sunflash deposited them on top of the basket of apples they had gathered. With a single swing he lifted the basket onto one shoulder and strode off back toward Applejack's house. Sunflash's deep voice blended harmoniously with those of the Crusaders as all four of them sang the riddle song:

"Arm not alas sand, way south in the west,

So star land a mat, there's where I love best,

Sand not as alarm, lone seabirds do wing,

And alas most ran, list to me while I sing."

Rainbow Dash was sunning herself on a cloud near the house. Applejack came out, saying "Bright ole day out here, ain't it?"

Sunflash marched up, nodding to one and all. Carefully he lifted the basket down, with the Crusaders sitting atop. "Some nice apples in here for you, Applejack," he said. "How's the store chamber coming along?"

Applejack pawed dust from her eyes with her hoof as she answered, "Near done, Ah'm just about finished. Lined it with those rock slabs ya found last winter."

Granny Smith came out with a pie. "Mm, is that apple and blackberry?" Sunflash asked. He sniffed the aroma, his gold-striped face alight with pleasure. Apple and blackberry was his favorite.

"Come away, sugar cubes, you'll burn yore muzzles off again' that hot thang." Granny shooed Apple Bloom and her friends off as they crowed round to smell the pie. "That pie is supposed t' be fer the feast tonight anyway."

"Can't wait for that!" Rainbow cried excitedly. "Will there be apple cider?"

"Yeah, we know how much ya love yore cider," said Applejack. "Don't worry, there'll be lots an' lots o' cider."

Rainbow licked her lips.

On the sward outside the Apple family's dwelling, the older creatures lay about, watching the young ones play. Sunflash stretched luxuriously and set his back against the sun-warmed rocks as he watched the Cutie Mark Crusaders trying to lift his mace between them.

"Twill be many a long season before they can lift my mace," he said. "Let us hope that they never have to. Learning the trade of a warrior and living in times of danger can rob a young creature of all its happy seasons and make it grow up fast and hard, as I did. Peace is a precious thing."

"You look pretty peaceful right now," said Rainbow Dash.

The badger had a distant look in his dark eyes. "Oh, I do like the life here. I am happier in this place than I have ever been, and I wish I could stay here in Ponyville forever."

Rainbow spread her wings at the happy scene surrounding them. "Why can't ya? Everypony here loves you."

Weighing his words carefully, Sunflash explained. "Listen to what I must say, friend. If I stayed here it would mean great trouble, possibly death for those around me. Make no mistake, if I make this place my home, then one day Swartt Sixclaw will turn up here with his army. But even if he did not, my warrior spirit would grow restless and I would need to go and seek him out. We are sworn lifelong enemies, he and I."

"Fair enough," said Rainbow Dash. She was silent for some time, but when she next spoke, there was an uncharacteristic note of seriousness in her voice. "But when you do return to face your enemy, the six-clawed ferret, I will be standing right by your side."

"Of course," replied the badger. "In the short time I have known you, Rainbow Dash, I can tell that you are different from the rest of these peaceful, simple pony folk. You possess the soul of a true warrior, just like me."

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had tired of trying to lift the heavy mace. They now sat nearby, hero-worshipping Sunflash and Rainbow Dash.

"Maybe we could git our cutie marks fer bein' warriors like Sunflash the Mace," said Apple Bloom.

"You know, I think I look a bit like Rainbow Dash," said Scootaloo. "Except for being smaller and a different color."

"Course ya do. Ah'm like Sunflash- pretty quiet an' very brave- or Ah will be when Ah'm older. Just wait an' see."

"Come on, mateys," said Sweetie Belle. "Let's go out into the woods and see if there are any ferrets and vermin to fight. We can slip away quietlike."


	6. Chapter 6

Sunflash was cooking in the kitchen with Applejack and Granny Smith when Rarity came in through the door. "Have you seen my sister Sweetie Belle? She didn't come home when she was supposed to."

"Come ta think of it, Ah haven't seen Apple Bloom since lunchtime," said Applejack. "Maybe she went out somewhere with Sweetie Belle an' Scootaloo."

They went outside and called for them, but there was no answer.

Sunflash saw Rainbow flying around in the sky. "Hi!" he called. "Have you seen three little ponies about lately?"

"If you're talkin' about Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle, they probably went out into the Everfree Forest to try to find rare animals," said Rainbow Dash. "They're always saying how they want to find another badger or other unusual creatures."

"Oh dear!" exclaimed Rarity. "The Everfree Forest is much too dangerous for three little fillies on their own!"

She stared up at Sunflash beseechingly. The big badger radiated calm and confidence as he patted Rarity gently on her unicorn horn. "Never fear, marm, I'll find 'em. Rainbow Dash, you can fly over the forest and circle around from the east. Applejack, you take a wide loop west and I'll go south. They can't have gotten far."

High sun lanced down through the leafy greenery of still woodland depths. Unaware of the upset they were causing, the Cutie Mark Crusaders trekked through the Everfree Forest. Apple Bloom carried a stick, which she fondly imagined was Sunflash's mace, while Scootaloo was pretending to be Rainbow Dash and Sweetie Belle was pretending to be Princess Celestia, "Because she's a good leader."

"Ah'm Sunflash the Mace!" Apple Bloom shouted as she waved her stick. "Alaylee!"

"It's not 'Alaylee,' it's 'Eulalia,'" Scootaloo said irritably.

"What are you, a dictionary?" retorted Apple Bloom.

"I'm hungry," mentioned Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom tied a thread to her stick. "Okay, Ah'll catch us a big fish in the river."

"But we don't have any way of cooking it!"

Apple Bloom thought about this a moment, then tossing aside the thread she lay down. "All right, we'll go ta sleep then. Warriors gotta have sleep!"

"But I'm not tired," complained Scootaloo.

"Course yore tired," Apple Bloom snorted impatiently. "Everypony gits tired."

"I'd like to go back home, then I can sleep in my own bed if I get tired," said Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom sat up, throwing a comforting hoof about Sweetie Belle's neck. "Mm, Ah wanna go back home too. We'll sit here 'til they come 'n' find us, okay?"

Sweetie Belle shook her head despairingly at this announcement. "Great seasons!" She had learned this expression from Sunflash. "You've gotten us lost, haven't you."

Apple Bloom fidgeted moodily with a dandelion. "Ah'm not lost, Ah just don't know a way back."

Sunflash weaved through the forest on either side of the faint path, searching wherever he thought the three little fillies might have strayed. The tranquility of nature was lost upon the badger as he strode anxiously about, his great mace swinging from one paw.

Suddenly a welter of cries and shouts broke upon his ears. Sunflash went thundering and crashing through the trees and came out in the clearing. His quick eyes took in the dangerous situation at a single glance. There were the Cutie Mark Crusaders, frightened speechless, clinging on to each other. A short distance away, two huge adders coiled and reared menacingly.

Sunflash sprang into action. He charged at the reptile closest to the ponies and dealt it a blow with his mace. Immediately the adder was after Sunflash, who ran leading it away from the Crusaders. The other snake turned away from the ponies and raced to intercept the badger, its coils bunching and stretching.

"Run friends, escape, get away!" Sunflash called over the panicked screams of the three fillies. But while he was distracted, one of the adders buried its sharp fangs in his side. Sunflash dropped his mace with a groan. The other snake wrapped itself around one of his footpaws. Roaring his battle cry, the badger grabbed the snake that was biting him and began to whirl it around over his head.

"Eulaliaaa!"

"See, I told you it was Eulalia," said Scootaloo.

Sunflash flung the adder far and high, and it sped through the air straight out like an arrow from a bow. Sweetie Belle looked up and saw it strike an elm tree limb. The snake's body wrapped round it several times, then it was still, resting draped across the high bough like a soggy piece of rope.

The second adder had uncoiled from Sunflash's ankle, and now it reared up on its tail and struck the badger in the back of the neck with its fangs. Sunflash fell to the ground.

Just as the snake was about to finish him, there was a colorful flash in the sky above. Rainbow Dash came hurtling out of nowhere and delivered a mighty blow to the serpent's head with her strong hooves. The Cutie Mark Crusaders cheered.

Rainbow Dash turned Sunflash over on his back and shouted as the badger's eyelids began flickering shut. "Where did the snakes bite you?"

Sunflash was sinking into a black pit; he heard the words coming from far away. Making an effort, he answered, "Bitten… twice… side… back…"

Then darkness overtook Sunflash the Mace completely.


	7. Chapter 7

Zecora the zebra was old and wise. She knew more about magical healing than anypony. Sunflash lay unconscious on top of a table in her house in the Everfree Forest. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were gathered around him anxiously.

"I never saw a snake that big before," Rainbow Dash said as she paced fretfully back and forth.

Pinkie Pie was jumping up and down in a panic. "Why is he sick? I thought badgers were too big to get sick! Is he gonna die?"

Twilight put an arm around her. "Sunflash'll only get well if we stay calm. Relax, or we'll end up nursing you too."

"How many times did the snakes bite 'im?" Applejack asked for the hundredth time.

"They bit 'im in the side an' the back o' the neck," answered Apple Bloom. "Sunflash kept on fightin', ever after bein' bit. It was incredible."

"We all owe him our lives," said Sweetie Belle.

"By Celestia's mane!" exclaimed Rarity. "Who ever heard of a beast so mighty that he slayed two serpents after being struck by them?"

Twilight said, "I've written a letter to the Princesses telling them what happened. They were supposed to come over on the train today."

Fluttershy's eyes were glazed with tears. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

Zecora was bathing the badger's fevered brow with leaves. She checked the poultices which she had applied to her patient's wounds, saying,

"I've never seen a beast of such strength before tonight.

No creature known to me could survive an adder bite.

If he doesn't die in the next few hours,

The ability to heal him may be within my powers."

"Yore poultices seem t' work right well," said Applejack. "How d'ya make 'em?"

The zebra recited the recipe, which had been in her family for generations.

"If beast be bit by fang of snake,

And lying near Dark Forest Gate,

This ancient poultice you must make,

To thwart the hooves of fate.

Find berries from the rowan tree,

Add one small green pine cone.

With one young leaf of raspberry,

Pounded flat beneath a stone.

Heat over a flame 'til colored dark,

Stir fast to make a paste of it,

Bind hot and tight with aspen bark,

Unto the limb the serpent bit.

Change oft from dawn until nightfall.

Make sure the beast lies still.

Mayhap he'll live to thank us all,

If he be strong of will!"

"Well, nobeast is stronger of will than Sunflash," said Rainbow Dash.

Just then the door opened and Celestia and Luna entered. Behind them came an enormous female badger, even bigger than Sunflash.

The ponies bowed respectfully to the princesses, but when the female badger saw Sunflash lying on the table, she let out a cry and rushed over to him. "Sunflash! Sunflash, my son!"

"Wait, who is this?" Rainbow Dash asked, confused.

"This is Bella of Brockhall, Sunflash's mother," Celestia explained.

"What a cruel twist of fate," Bella lamented. "I finally find my son, only to see him dying before my eyes."

"Well, he's not dead yet," said Applejack. "Zecora is doin' everything she can ta heal him."

"Hush, this creature needs his rest.

Peaceful sleep is what is best," said Zecora.

In his dreams, Sunflash the Mace saw the gates of Dark Forest. He lay on the ground as they began opening before him, slowly, oh so slowly; without sound of a creak, the mist shrouded timbers moved. He felt his body being drawn toward them and could not resist, did not want to resist; the burning pains within him eased as he felt the desire to enter Dark Forest and rest. As the gates opened wider he saw two mighty Badger Lords, fully armored. One carried a fearsome sword, the other a double-headed axe. Now a third badger joined them. This one was simply clad and carried no weapons. He smiled at Sunflash.

"My little Sunflash, do you not know me?" he said.

Sunflash smiled back through the tears that welled in his eyes. "Father!"

"Yes, my son, I am Barkstripe, husband of your mother, Bella of Brockhall. These two Badger Lords are Boar the fighter, your grandsire, and Lord Brocktree, your great-grandsire. Listen to them now, they have something important to tell you."

Boar the Fighter and Lord Brocktree barred the gate entrance with sword and axe and spoke as one.

"You cannot enter here, Lord!"

Sunflash felt a great silence come over him. He wanted to join his sires, not be rejected by them. He felt alone and helpless. "Why do you refuse me entrance when I am weary and wish to sleep, and why do you call me Lord?" he asked.

Again the sepulchral tones of the Badger Warriors rang out: "There are many long seasons to be lived before you come here. Do not surrender, rise up, the mountain awaits you! It is in need of a Badger Lord."

Dark Forest and its dread gates receded from Sunflash's dreams; now he wandered lonely through sunlit vales and flower-strewn hillsides. Lying down in the cool shade of a great oak, he looked up at the sky. A shadow passed over him and a face appeared; Sunflash found himself staring into the most beautiful face he had ever seen. It was a badger, wise beyond dreams and calm as a still lake in the dawn. He knew instinctively it was Bella, his mother. In that moment he felt sadness and joy, yearning and fulfillment. Comfort and serenity shone through her smile as she stroked his golden stripe and began singing:

"Arm not alas sand, way south in the west,

So star land a mat, that's where I love best,

Sand not as alarm, lone seabirds do wing,

And alas most ran, list to me whilst I sing.

I'll walk alongside you, my lost little one,

We'll find the mountain…"

"Salamandastron!" Sunflash bellowed, finishing the song.

Suddenly he was awake again, but he still saw the female badger's face above him. Sunflash spoke, just one word.

"Mother."

"Son."


	8. Chapter 8

It had been a hard year for Swartt Sixclaw and his vermin. They had suffered severe losses from attacks by crows, and an outbreak of fever killed even more of the horde. Bluefen, Swartt's wife, died after giving birth to a child. Swartt himself had fallen ill, but his determination to find and slay Sunflash the Mace had kept him alive. When he recovered from his fever, he did not devote any energy to grieving for his wife or caring for his infant son. He tasked an old ratwife with the responsibility of looking after the ferretbabe.

Now Swartt lay on a cushion in his Warlord tent, smoking a cigarette because he was a rebel. He slicked back his headfur with hair gel as he waited for his seer, the vixen Nightshade, to return. He had not slept all night.

Nightshade finally entered the tent, with caution. She was unsure what sort of mood the Warlord would be in.

Swartt sprang up and shouted in his Brooklyn accent, "Where in da name o' fur 'n' fangs have ya been, vixen? Make your report, an' it better be good!"

The vixen adopted a wheedling tone. "Lord, I have spoken with some dogs who were fleeing from the place called Ponyville. They said that a great badger who called himself Sunflash the Mace fought a battle with them, and drove all the Diamond Dogs out of the area. They described him as having a yellow stripe down his back instead of a white one like most badgers have. Sounds a bit like our friend Sunflash, don't you think?"

Swartt delivered a blow that knocked the fox to the ground. "Ya dope! Dat badger is not my friend, he's my enemy, you dig?"

"Yeah, I know, I know. I was just-"

"Awright. Now tell me about dis Ponyville place. Where is it, what kinda creatures live there?"

Nightshade drew in a deep breath. "Ponyville is a small village, less than a day's journey south of here, populated by only a few score of horses. Some of them have horns and are called unicorns, and others have wings and can fly, like the one who escaped from us along with the stripedog, but from what I have heard, these groups are small minorities. Most of them are ordinary horses with no magical power whatsoever."

Swartt took a drag on his cigarette. "An' none of 'em have horns _an'_ wings? Just one or the other?"

"As far as I know, yes."

"Okay," the ferret Warlord said evilly as he pulled on his black leather jacket. "Tell da horde to prepare for battle. Dis Ponyville sounds like a good place to build my stronghold. We can easily defeat a few score of horses."


	9. Chapter 9

By the next evening, Sunflash had made a full recovery, and now the feast was proceeding as planned. It was an even more joyous occasion than imagined, for now Sunflash was not only celebrating the anniversary of his stay in Ponyville, but he had also finally been reunited with his mother.

Sunflash and Bella sat side by side at one of many long tables lined up in the Apple's orchard. The tables were sagging under the weight of many delicious dishes, and nearly everypony in town was there. A great cauldron of apple stew steamed thickly, its wondrous aroma tickling the noses of all who fancied a second helping, or even a third, or in Sunflash's case, a fourth and fifth. Sunflash and Applejack had ranged far and wide for the ingredients. The apples had come from the orchard, but the special touches like wild onion, fennel, and beans had taken some finding. There was summercream pudding and apple-and-blackberry pie made by Granny Smith, and plenty of apple cider. Pinkie Pie had also brought some sweets from Sugar Cube Corner.

The happy laughter of young and old alike rose to mingle with high larksong on the warm spring afternoon. Pinkie entertained the ponies with the comic song "Why Can't Earth Ponies Fly?" while the Cutie Mark Crusaders retold the story of the battle with the adders to some other young ponies, giving a highly embellished account of the event in which they came off as the heroes of the day.

"That's right, we fought 'em! Bang bash wallop splat!" Scootaloo yelled. "We sent all three of those snakes scurrying."

Pip Squeak held up a hoof. "But I thought Rainbow Dash said there were only two snakes."

"Did she? Well, there was actually four o' the varmints," Apple Bloom said. "Ah took care o' two of 'em with this here stick. Yup, Ah wouldn't be surprised if'n Ah got mah cutie mark fer snake wranglin' pretty soon."

Applejack laughed. "Lissen to them young 'uns! Ah never heard such fibbin' in all mah born days."

Twilight and Rainbow Dash were chatting with Sunflash and Bella. "It sure is funny how the name we came up with for him was the same name you gave him," Twilight commented.

"Aye, that it is. I always knew that one day I'd find my son again," said Bella.

"Looks like things worked out pretty great for you, Sunflash," said Rainbow Dash. "You know who your parents are, you know who you are…"

"And I even know now what the riddle song means!" exclaimed Sunflash. "All those phrases- Arm not alas sand, So star land a mat, Sand not as alarm, And alas most ran. They have all the same letters, because they're anagrams of the same word- Salamandastron!"

"But what does Salamandastron mean?" Rainbow Dash started to ask when suddenly a Pegasus pony swooped in and landed on the table.

"There's a huge army coming this way!" she yelled. "Ferrets and foxes and rats! They all have weapons and their leader is a big ferret with six claws on each hand!"

"Oh no!" Fluttershy wailed.

"It must be Swartt Sixclaw!" Sunflash hollered.

Everypony stopped eating and looked around in alarm. Princess Celestia said, "Friends, this is serious news. Ponyville appears to be in great danger."

"What should we do?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow's voice held no hesitation. "I say we raise our own army and train them. Swartt won't get Ponyville without a fight."

Applejack stamped her hoof angrily. "Yeah! We'll show those vermin a thang or two!"

"Wait. Not so fast." Bella interrupted. "You talk as if this town were full of trained warriors and fighting beasts, but I doubt if any of you ponies have ever seen a real vermin horde, or realize the danger and slaughter they could inflict upon Ponyville!"

"Well, they can't be worse than Discord or Queen Chrysalis," said Twilight.

"Let me face the vermin by myself," said Sunflash. "They're here because of me anyway. If I can kill Sixclaw quickly, maybe the rest of the vermin will lose heart."

Celestia put a hoof on his shoulder. "No, my friend. You are still weak from your adder bites. Leave this to me and my sister. We can take care of this army without any ponies being killed."

"How can ya do that?" Applejack asked.

"Long ago, when Celestia and I were young, Canterlot was attacked by a gigantic army of vermin led by a wildcat named King Mortspear," said Luna. "We used our magic to defeat them without a single pony casualty, and we can do the same thing again."

Rainbow Dash bit her lip in disappointment. "Why can't we go an' strike a blow for Equestria and freedom? I'd make a good warrior."

Celestia said, "Of course you would, that's why you'll be needed back here. If our plan fails, we'll need fighters to defend Ponyville. I'd like you and Twilight to be in command should the need arise."

Rainbow tried to swell out her chest, but only succeeded in puffing out her stomach.

"Twilight, I'll need you to get everypony to safety," Celestia continued. "Can you fit all of them in your library?"

Twilight gulped but was resolute. "You can count on me, Princess!"

"Good," Celestia said. "And now, we must be off." She and Luna spread their wings and flew off into the sky to face Swartt Sixclaw and his horde.


	10. Chapter 10

Swartt Sixclaw and his horde walked down the Everfree Forest path, whistling and snapping their fingers like the Jets. Swartt and the other male vermin were wearing black leather jackets, jeans, tennis shoes, and sunglasses, and they all had their headfur slicked back. The females were wearing pink jackets, poodle skirts, and loafers. Those whose fur was long enough had it piled up on top of their heads in beehives.

And then the sky abruptly turned from day to night! The vermin stopped in their tracks.

"What happened?"

"I can't see a t'ing!"

"Everything's gone dark!"

"It must be sum kinda sorcery," a weasel called Muggra opined.

Swartt's paw was straying dangerously close to the switchblade concealed in his jacket pocket. "What makes ya say dat, Muggra? I don't see any reason t' be scared. A course it's dark, dat's what happens at night."

"But not all of a sudden like dis. It ain't right, Chief."

Suddenly, Swartt struck, slashing Muggra across the footpaw with his flick knife. Muggra screamed and sat down, hugging his injured footpaw.

"Fools! Cowards!" Swartt shouted. "I ain't afraid a no sorcery! Now, we're gonna go an' take over Ponyville, an' nobeast is gonna stop us, wit' or wit'out magic, ya dig? Get up, weasel, or I'll use dis knife again, an' dis time it won't be on your paw!"

As he spoke, the sky lightened and the sun came up again. Then it started changing back and forth from day to night, faster and faster. The vermin were terrified. Even Swartt began to be afraid, though he did not let the scowl leave his face.

As abruptly as this unnatural switching had begun, it stopped again, ending with the darkness of the night.

Then a loud booming voice called: "Begone!"

Swartt seized Nightshade's paw. "Where did dat voice come from?"

The vixen tried desperately to extricate her paw from the ferret's vicelike grasp. "I don't know, Lord, but it looks to me like some sort of warning that we should go no further!"

Swartt held on to the paw, glaring at her. "Tell me da truth! Did ya have any visions or dreams about dis?"

Nightshade wrenched her paw away, shaking her head. "None, Sire, I saw nothing!"

"Begone!" Princess Luna commanded again in her Royal Voice from where she was hidden with Celestia in the treetops. "Begone from this site, or else we shall have to deform ye! Worms feast upon any who try to stand against us; their bones rot upon the territory of the phantom slayers! Go now!"

"We're not the only two here," Celestia chimed in. "There are many of us!"

"Listen, you ain't goin' ta stop us, whoever ya are!" Swartt roared. "Now stand aside, an' let us pass! Forward march!"

"We are not affected by thy weak demands," Luna warned. "Ye have no powers to defeat us!"

Screams rang out as three vermin fell, struck down by unseen blasts of magic from the alicorns' horns. Suddenly the horde was in disarray.

"They're in da woods on da east side!" Swartt. "Scraw, charge 'em wid spears, wipe every last one of dem out! Aggal, Nightshade, line some archers up, here- jump to it!"

Celestia watched the spearbeasts charge into the woodlands, letting them get sufficiently far from the path before nodding to her sister. Half of the spear carriers were brought down by more blasts of magical energy. The rest turned to run back in a panic. What little order remained in the ranks instantly disintegrated as all of the rats, weasels, ferrets, and foxes took to their heels and fled for their lives.

Swartt looked around wildy. He could not stop the horde retreating deeper into the woods; they ignored his commands. "Stop!" he yelled. "What are ya runnin' from, some ragtailed little bunch o' horsies? Stand an' fight! You're a bunch of jive squares!"

A flutter of wings above him caused him to look up. In the sky, he saw two great horse-like creatures, with wings and horns. Silently, the ferret decided that discretion was the better part of valor and fled too.

When the last of the vermin had gone, Celestia and Luna flew back down to the forest floor. "We did a great thing here today, eh sister?" said Luna.

"Yes, it was risky, but we pulled it off, just as we did with King Mortspear and his army all those years ago," said Celestia.

Then she noticed something moving down in a ditch. She went to investigate. It was a baby ferret! "Look what I found," she called to her sister.

"What is it?"

"It looks like one of their young that they left behind." Celestia tried to pick the ferretbabe up, but it bit her hoof. The pony princess drew back.

"What are we supposed to do with him?" Luna demanded. "We can't just go catch up with the vermin and say, 'Here's your baby that you forgot!'"

"I suppose we'll have to take him to Bella and Sunflash and talk it over with them," Celestia sighed.

There was silence. Luna touched the ferretbabe gently, and it bit her too. Stonefaced, she watched the small creature licking its teeth, savoring the taste of blood, and said, "I know 'tis a hard thing to say about an infant creature, but I predict that no good will ever come of this one. Don't ask me why, I just feel it in my hooves!"


	11. Chapter 11

All the ponies, along with Sunflash, Bella, and Spike the dragon, were crowded into Twilight's library house. Twilight stood by the window with Fluttershy. They had been watching and waiting for hours.

"Twilight, I'm scared," Fluttershy whimpered. "I don't want to be killed by ferrets!"

"Maybe they won't kill most of us," Spike said. "Maybe they'll just make us their slaves."

"Oh, if Sixclaw triumphs, there'll be very few beasts left alive to be slaves, believe me," said Sunflash.

Fluttershy's lip began quivering. Twilight could see the toll the stress was taking on her friend. "Everypony, stop this silliness," she commanded. "Princess Celestia has never been defeated yet, and she never will be." But inside, she had doubts of her own. There was a first time for everything.

The gloom was dispelled when a voice from outside called, "We have repelled the vermin! Ponyville is safe!" It was Princess Celestia!

Everybeast burst outside onto Twilight's lawn in joy. "Three cheers for the goodbeasts who saved Ponyville!" Bella cried as she skipped out the door, showing surprising vivacity for one of her long seasons.

Cheers rang to the sky. "The goodbeasts who saved Ponyville! Hooray!"

The party resumed right there in Twilight's yard. Vinyl Scratch went and got her record player so she could crank up some tunes, and everypony danced through the night.

Amid the merriment, Celestia took her friend Bella to one side. "Come with us, Bella, we have something to show you and your son." Bella and Sunflash followed the princesses back into the library. "Twilight Sparkle, I want you and your friends to hear this too," Celestia said as they passed Twilight.

They all entered Twilight's house. All the other ponies had gone outside, and Princess Luna was in the main room, holding the ferretbabe in her arms.

"What's the matter, Princess?" Twilight asked.

"I'm afraid Swartt Sixclaw left something behind," Luna said.

Fluttershy saw the young ferret. "Oh! Look how CUTE!" she exclaimed. She ran over and swept the babe into her hooves, hugging it. "Is it a boy or a girl? Whose is it? Where did you get it from?"

"Not so fast," Luna said. "Maybe you won't be so quick to cuddle it when I tell you. He is the young of a vermin, abandoned when they retreated from the path, a male ferretbabe."

Fluttershy continued nursing the ferret, rocking him back and forth. "Poor little thing! He looks so alone and lost! Isn't he beautiful?"

Bella smiled wisely, saying, "All little creatures are beautiful, Fluttershy, every living thing when it first sees life is born in beauty. What they grow to be is a different matter."

Celestia said, "I have given the ferretbabe a name, he shall be called Veil, because there is a veil over his life before he came here. We know nothing of him."

"What a lovely name," Fluttershy said. "Hello, little Veil."

Sunflash peered down at the infant. "Look, he has six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, just like Swartt. What if this is his son?"

"If that's Swartt Sixclaw's son, he'll probably grow up to be an evil warlord like his dad," said Rainbow Dash.

"What are we going to do with him?" asked Rarity.

"That's what we came to you to ask," said Celestia. "Does anybeast have any suggestions?"

There was a silence. Then Fluttershy spoke up. "I-I can take him," she stammered. "I've always wanted to raise a baby. I've had pets before, but they were all non-anthropomorphic animals."

"Yeah, but what if he turns out evil?" Rainbow Dash reiterated.

"Surely he won't become evil if he's taken care of by good creatures," said Fluttershy. "I mean, look at him. He's so innocent and sweet. Ouch!"

Bella exchanged glances with the princesses before speaking. "He has bitten you, Fluttershy."

The Pegasus sucked her hoof briefly, smiling. "No, not really, it was more of a nibble. Perhaps he's hungry."

"Well, Fluttershy taking charge of the ferret sounds like a good idea," Twilight said. "She's the element of kindness, after all. Nopony would be better at teaching Veil the ways of good."

"Yeah," said Applejack. "Remember how she turned Discord good?"

"I can't think of any other option," Sunflash said.

"All right, then," said Celestia. "From this day forth, Veil is your responsibility, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy's eyes were shining, and she hugged the small ferret close. "Oh, Celestia, is it true? I will be like his mother, no, more like his big sister, no more like his good friend!"

Bella smiled. "Make your mind up, missie. Best be a little of all, mayhap that's what Veil will need to grow up good."

Fluttershy departed with Veil, and Bella and Sunflash went back to Applejack's house with Applejack. All the other ponies started to clear out and return to their homes too. Twilight was left alone in her house with the two princesses. She saw a tiny spot of blood on the carpet which had spilled from Fluttershy's hoof when the ferretbabe bit her. Twilight stared at the crimson dot and said, "Did we do the right thing, Princess, or will this ferret cause more blood to be shed in Ponyville?"

The great white alicorn bent down and made the blood disappear with magic. "Only time will tell. I have a feeling about this ferret, and if I am proved right in the years to come, I will tell you why I really called him Veil. But it is far better now to hope for the best that can happen, so we will say no more about it."

"Well, Fluttershy's a good pony," said Twilight. "Let's hope she can raise him right."

"Yes. Good night, Twilight, my faithful pupil."

"Good night, Princesses."

Celestia and Luna left Twilight's house, Celestia singing softly to herself:

"Give him a name and leave him awhile,

Veil may live to be evil and vile,

But I hope my prediction will fail,

And evil so vile will not live in Veil."


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning day, Rainbow Dash came to Applejack's house. "So what do you wanna do today, Sunflash?" she asked. "Want to help me out with my flying tricks?"

"I'm afraid we won't have time for that today, Rainbow Dash," said the badger. "Today is the day Mother and I are leaving."

"Leaving? But where are you going?"

"To Salamandastron," Sunflash explained. "It's a great fortress by the sea, inside an extinct volcano, where Badger Lords rule over the western coast of Mossflower Country. Mother told me all about it. There's a mighty army of hares there called the Long Patrol which assists us in defending the mountain from attacks by vermin hordes. My grandfather, Boar the Fighter, was ruler there long ago, and so was his father, the great Lord Brocktree."

"Salamandastron was the first place I went on my search for Sunflash," said Bella. "When I arrived, there was no Badger Lord there, only a few hares. Apparently the mountain has been without a leader ever since my father Boar died."

"So I'm going to journey to Salamandastron so I can become the next Badger Lord, giving the hares a new force to rally around," Sunflash finished.

"Aw, man, that sounds awesome!" Rainbow said. "But do you really have to leave today?"

"Yes, I think the sooner the better," said Sunflash. "Ponyville is a wonderful place, but it's not where I truly belong. I must follow my destiny, and it's obvious that as long as I stay here, I'm putting you all at risk. Swartt Sixclaw and his horde would never have attacked your town if it hadn't been for me."

Rainbow Dash wiped a tear from her eye. "I knew you were gonna have to leave someday, but I'll really miss you!"

Then Bella had an idea. "Why don't you come along with us, Rainbow Dash?"

"I could never leave my pony friends," said Rainbow.

"You don't have to leave them forever," Bella clarified, "But if you come to Salamandastron with us now, you will know the way there, and you can visit whenever you want to."

"Hey, that sounds like a great idea!" said Rainbow Dash.

"Yes, I'd love to have you along," said Sunflash.

An hour later, they were ready to depart. A contingent of ponies came to see them off at the town line. "Goodbye, my friends," said Sunflash.

Twilight patted his paw. "We'll think kindly of you an' all you did for us."

Applejack handed Sunflash a sack of food. "Ah made yew a pack o' vittles so ya wouldn't git hungry on yore trip, an' maybe it'll remind you of us."

"We'll miss you too, Rainbow Dash," said Rarity.

"Yeah," said Fluttershy, who was holding the infant Veil in her arms.

"Don't forget about us, okay?" called Pinkie Pie.

Rainbow Dash laughed. "Don't worry, I won't be gone that long. Just long enough to see our friend Sunflash off to his new home."

"I'll take care of things while you're gone, Dashie!" Scootaloo piped.

Rainbow ruffled the filly's hair. "Of course you will, squirt."

Princess Celestia stepped forth, holding a golden medallion with the inscription, "Remember the Rainbow." It had a picture of an Earth pony, a Unicorn, and a Pegasus on it. She presented it to Sunflash, saying, "This amulet may be of use to you sometime. Show it to any of Equestria's allies you may encounter. Tell them it comes from Princess Celestia. It will make your path easier by bringing you help."

"Fare ye well, Sunflash the Mace!" said Luna. "Find your mountain, defeat your enemies, and grow great in the land!"

Sunflash looped the medallion around his neck, and picked up his mace and the sack of provisions. Then the three were off. They cut into the woodlands, going south and west.


	13. Chapter 13

Morning sun evaporated the damp and dew, clothing the woodlands in a brief gauze of mist. The three travelers trudged steadily onward as the trees and foliage became more luxurious and dense. They had been on the move for several days now.

Bella sniffed the air. "I smell the great waters. We're not far from the mountain now."

"I can't wait to see the home of my ancestors," said Sunflash.

"Our family has ruled Salamandastron for generations," said Bella. "The blood of many Mountain Lords runs in your veins. Boar the Fighter, Lord Brocktree, Bluestripe the Wild, Ceteruler the Just, Spearlady Gorse. You come from a long and proud legacy. Always remember that."

"Well, I'm descended from Commander Hurricane, who used to be the ruler of all the Pegasus Ponies," said Rainbow Dash.

As they tramped, or in Rainbow's case, flew, southward, Sunflash took the medallion Celestia had given him in his paw and inspected it, musing, "This must be a very powerful omen. Celestia told me that all of Equestria's allies would aid me if I wore it. But why?"

Rainbow Dash explained the significance of the talisman. "Thousands of years ago, the Pegasi, Unicorns, an' Earth Ponies in Equestria kept themselves to themselves, never botherin' with each other until one year, a harsh winter forced them to band together. But there were still power struggles among the three races of ponies, each one thinking they had the right to rule the others. Then one day, Princess Celestia and her sister, Princess Luna, came to Equestria. Because they weren't either Pegasus, Unicorn, or Earth Pony, but a pentagram of all three, the ponies asked them to be their leaders."

"Wait, was this the same Celestia and Luna I saw at Ponyville?" Sunflash interjected.

"Yeah."

"But you said this was thousands of years ago. A year is four seasons, right? How could they possibly still be alive after all that time?"

Rainbow shrugged. "Alicorns live a long time, I guess. It's just the way they are."

Bella shook her head. "Great seasons! And I thought we badgers had long lifespans."

"Anyway," Rainbow continued. "At the princesses' coronation, the ponies presented them with a medallion with a picture of all three kinds of ponies, to show that they had authority over all of them. That's the same one you're wearin' now. So now y'know why anybeast wearing that medallion commands the respect an' loyalty of all ponies and friends of ponies."

They descended a steep wooded hillside, and the earth grew squelchy as they progressed downward. When they reached the bottom, they found themselves in a swamp. "Let's stop here for a bite," said Bella. She sat down on a rock, while Sunflash seated himself on a stump. Rainbow Dash perched on a tall foxglove tree.

Sunflash unpacked apple scones and flasks of cider from the sack of provisions. They ate and drank slowly as they evaluated the land, the great swamp they would be forced to cross. In front of them, and as far as they could see from left to right, dark treacherous ooze showed between the tall foxgloves, funguslike growths clung parasitically to half-sunken logs, and clouds of midges swarmed about the mosses and liverwort that abounded everywhere.

"How are we ever going to get across?" wondered Sunflash.

"Tell ya what," Rainbow said. "I'll fly ahead and scout out the land, find us a safe route."

"Okay," said Sunflash. Rainbow Dash spread her wings and took off.

"Be careful!" Bella called after her, but this was an ironic statement. The two badgers were the ones who would shortly be in real danger.

From the shelter of clumped elderbushes, they were being watched. Many reptilian eyes stared unblinkingly from their hiding places. Sunflash was stoppering his drink flask when a strange sound reached his ears; looking around swiftly he identified the source of the odd noise. It was a reed flute, played by a small skinny newt. The creature had painted itself orange and bright blue with plant dyes. It hopped and frisked about with scant regard for the treacherous surface of the morass, skipping from plant to twig, from rush to flower, tootling and twiddling tunelessly. It popped up alongside the badgers.

Bella greeted the newcomer. "Good day to you, little sir…"

Further conversation was interrupted as the newt scrambled to get inside the provision sack. Sunflash nipped the invader neatly by its baggy neckskin and held it aloft. Indignantly, it kicked in mid-air, snarling nastily in a high pitched squeal, "'Ey yew, 'ey yew, gerroffofme an' giz me vikkles, 'urryup!"

Sunflash gave the impudent reptile a warning shake to silence it. "Hold hard there, cheekyface, who d'you think you're talking to?"

It tried to strike at the badger with its reed flute. "Stripeydog thicky'ead badjerpadjer daftdog…!"

Sunflash had put up with enough. He stunned the newt with a tiny flick of his free paw beneath its chin. Unknown to him the myriad of reptile eyes still watched him and his mother from the cover of the elderbushes. Sunflash laid the newt carefully on the stump and waited for it to recover. Slowly, it stirred and opened one eye.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you any manners?" Bella lectured. "You come here, diving into our bag, demanding food, and then you start insulting my son. Have you got no respect for others?"

The little reptile swallowed, its throat rising in a gulp. "A wiz 'ungry, yew got vikkles, giz Smerc sum.. pleez."

"That's better. Always nice to hear a 'please,'" said Bella. "My name is Bella and this is my son Sunflash the Mace. You want food- good, tell you what we'll do. Obviously you know your way about this swamp. If you agree to lead us through it, we'll feed you. Is it a bargain?"

"Barrgin, barrgin! Giz Smerc vikkles, I show yadda way!"

Sunflash was not happy. "I thought Rainbow Dash was finding a way across for us."

"Yes, but Smerc here actually lives in the swamp, so he can show us the way even more easily," Bella responded. "We can catch up with Rainbow on the other side."

Reluctantly, Sunflash broke a scone in half, twirled a leaf into a cone, filled it with cider, and gave them both to Smerc. The skinny little creature ate as if it had lived through a seven-season famine, sucking the drink noisily and chomping at the scone until crumbs flew. To the badgers' amazement it demolished the food and finished the drink.

Holding out the conical leaf cup, Smerc shook it in Sunflash's face. "Yehhhh! A like it, goodgood, giz me summore!"

The badger eyed it coldly until he heard the word.

"Pleez!"

Refilling the leaf cone, Sunflash gave it to Smerc with the other half of the scone. The newt's table manners were utterly appalling. When it had finished eating, it grabbed at the amulet that Sunflash had hung around his neck, hissing, "Luvly meggle giz me it, for showyer across swampy!"

Sunflash understood Smerc completely. He had spent a lot of his young life in a vermin camp where creatures behaved like that as a matter of routine. The only thing such creatures respected was brute force, and now he decided to show the newt a bit. Picking Smerc up, Sunflash set him on a low laburnum branch.

"So then, your name is Smerc. Watch and I'll show you why I'm called Sunflash the Mace!

Sunflash seized the great hornbeam mace and swung it.

"Eulalia!"

One sweeping sideways blow at the rotten beech stump caused it to disintegrate, exploding into a shower of damp wood, powdery dust, slugs, and wood lice. When the debris settled there was no sign of the stump. Smerc stood open-mouthed, quivering all over with fear. Sunflash shouldered his mace, saying, "I've fed you, that's our half of the bargain. Now will you guide us through the swamp."

Slow worms, eels, and newts in a silent slithering procession followed as Sunflash and Bella negotiated a passage through the wide morass. They followed Smerc, sometimes waist deep as the newt skipped carelessly over lily pads, other times gripping the moss-covered limbs of long-submerged tree trunks. It was tough going. At the center of the swamp a jutting oak branch stuck up at an angle. As they moved toward it, the badgers felt the shifting ooze gripping and sucking at their bodies. They floundered, tasting the foul mud in their mouths, unable to wipe it from their eyes.

Smerc's voice rang out from somewhere nearby. "Grab 'old o' d' branch, stripedogs, or yer sink!"

Summoning his strength, Sunflash made a mighty surge forward, grabbing blindly at where he knew the tree limb to be. There was a moment's cold panic, then he felt his paw grip wood. Looping the cord of his mace handle over a gnarled burr, he pulled himself from the sticky morass and up onto the log. Then he took hold of Bella's paw and pulled her up there too.

"Thank you, my son," Bella panted. Sunflash was about to reply when he looked up and saw that they were now surrounded by eels, slow worms, and newts. Smerc was perched on the head of a big eel. He pointed at Sunflash and giggled insanely.

Sunflash tried reasoning with him. "Come on, be fair, you haven't completed our bargain. Get us out of this swamp. Which way do we go now?"

Smerc was delighted. He had lured the badgers into a trap. "Yeeheehee! Which way ya go now, stripedogs? Yeeheeheehee! This's yer deepest part o' th' swamp, on'y one way t' go, badjerpadjer! Yeeheeheehee! Down!"

Hot rage engulfed Sunflash the Mace. The sack of food was still hanging on his belt. He pulled an empty cider flask out of there and hurled it at Smerc. The flask struck a glancing blow to both the newt and the big eel on whose head he was perched. Smerc flopped senseless on the eel's head, which was now sporting a livid bruise and a rapidly rising bump.

The eel reared up, opening its mouth to reveal two rows of greeny-yellow, needle-pointed teeth. "Sink 'em!" it hissed.

The whole mass of reptiles moved backward, and the oak limb began turning on its side. The two badgers threw themselves flat, clinging tightly to the branches. To their horror they saw a thick vine hawser rise clear of the mud. It was attached underneath the oak limb and the reptiles were pulling on it.

"Stop! Stop!" Bella shouted. "What do you want?"

The big eel sank back and, wrapping itself around the hawser, it pulled with the others as it answered, "Want you… sssssink!"

Sunflash held on to the tree limb as it was pulled down, turning slowly into the fathomless depths of mud.


	14. Chapter 14

The reptiles hissed joyfully as they hauled on the vine hawser. Sunflash and Bella did their best to slow their descent into the swamp by spreading their paws and holding their heads back.

"I'm sorry, son," said Bella. "You were right, we shouldn't have trusted Smerc."

Sunflash tried to reassure her, though inwardly he was sad that he wouldn't get to see Salamandastron before he died. "It's all right. It wasn't your fault. Let's give 'em one last battle cry before we go."

They clasped paws and gave voice to the ancient badger war cry. "EULALIAAAAAA!"

Rainbow Dash arrived like a bolt of lightning. She grabbed Smerc's unconscious body and flew up into the sky with it, high above the swamp. The reptiles down below set up a piteous wail.

"Sssstop, do not let him sssssink!"

"Right, listen up, this is how it's gonna go!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "I'll set your leader down once you pull my badger friends out of the swamp."

The eels and newts started pulling the vine the other way, forcing the log back out of the quagmire. Bella and Sunflash felt themselves pushed upward from beneath, free from the mud. They looked like a pair of slime-covered primeval monsters.

"Now push the log to that bank over there," Rainbow directed. The reptiles hauled the log onto a dry bank with lime and alder trees growing on it.

Sunflash and Bella lay completely exhausted, the mud plastering them turning to a gray, cementlike coating in the hot sun. Rainbow Dash strutted around them, carefully brushing the mess off their faces so they could see. Spitting out the gritty substance, Sunflash nodded weakly at the reptiles.

"That lot look disappointed. We would have fed them for six seasons after they'd suffocated us," he said.

"Thank you for saving us, friend," said Bella. "We owe you our lives."

The Pegasus grinned. "Well, Sunflash did save my life, once upon a time."

"You dealt with those vermin quickly and decisively," said Sunflash. "I've taught you well."

Suddenly, Smerc stood up, one side of his jaw swollen out of shape as he grinned lopsidedly and jeered, ""Ello, stripedogs, see yer 'scaped from d' swamp. Heeheehee!"

Sunflash made a halfhearted grab at the cheeky newt, but he was too slow. Smerc toddled quickly off into the shrubbery. A moment later he was heard shrilling, "Gerroff me yew! Lemmego, I di'n't do nottink!"

Two strange creatures hove into view, each dragging Smerc by a leg. They had birdlike heads, wings, and talons, but their back halves resembled those of lions.

"Hey dudes," one of them said. "We heard the commotion over this way so we cruised over to take a look. I'm Gilda Griffon an' this dork here is Greta."

"Gilda!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Oh, man, it's been a while!"

"You two know each other?" Sunflash said in surprise.

"Are you kiddin'? Gilda was my best friend from my days at Junior Speedsters flight camp. She's half eagle, half lion."

"And all awesome," Gilda added.

"Well, I'm Sunflash the Mace, and this is my mother, Bella."

"What are two griffons from Equestria doing down here in Mossflower?" Rainbow Dash asked.

A dark look came over Gilda's face. "We're on the track of Captain Warpclaw an' his searats."

"Sea… rats?" Rainbow Dash repeated, puzzled.

"Aye, I've heard of them," Bella said. "They're evil pirate rats that take delight in the pain of other beasts. My father, Boar the Fighter, was slain by them."

"Pirate rats, huh? Does anybeast ever call 'em pi _rats_?" Rainbow chuckled at her little joke, but no one else did.

"Most of the griffons of Griffonstone were off clearin' a dam from the broad stream a few weeks back," Gilda explained, "And when we got home we found that villain Warpclaw had sailed his ship _Gutprow_ clean up the Griffonstone river from the sea an' carried all the little griffons off for galley slaves."

Sunflash thought of the little Cutie Mark Crusaders back in Ponyville, and a wave of anger swept over him against the searats for stealing little ones.

"How many griffon children were taken, Gilda?" he asked.

"Thirty-four…" Gilda stopped midsentence. For a moment her eyes filled with pain. "And that includes my own little cousin Gabriella Griffon."

Sunflash picked up his mace. "Come on then, there's no time to be lost. We're with you!"

"Why would you help us?" the other griffon, Greta, asked. "We've done nothing for you."

"Any friend of the ponies is a friend of mine. See?" The badger showed them his medallion.

The griffons gaped open-mouthed as the huge badger went pounding off down the steep slopes toward the distant shore. They were amazed at his agility and strength. Where he could not climb he took great leaps, where it was too steep to walk he threw himself into a roll, and any rock or hindrance that barred his way was pulverized beneath the mighty mace. The griffons and the Pegasus flew behind him, trying to keep up, and Bella followed as best she could.

They made the beach an hour after dawn. Sunflash gathered them behind a rocky outcrop from where they could see a stream flow across the shore and into the sea.

"The ship will be coming down this stream," said Gilda.

"Right, we need a plan," said Sunflash. "Has anybeast got any ideas on how we can slow them down or stop them from reaching the sea?"

Bella scratched her chin as she gazed out over the beach; then she pointed to one spot. "See there, that's where the sand forms in a bump on the tideline. The river flows shallowest over that part. Maybe it's shallow enough for you to stand in it, Sunflash."

Sunflash dashed out to the spot and plunged into the water. It only came up to his waist. "What now?"

"Now, try and roll that big boulder into the water. When the pirat ship reaches it, it'll be blocked and you can easily board it."

Rainbow Dash was elated. "Oh, you used my-"

"That's right," said Bella. "You know, I never thought of calling them that before."

Rainbow flew over to Gilda. "Don't worry. If anybeast can save the griffons, Sunflash can. You'll be glad t' be on the same side as this badger, just wait and see!"


	15. Chapter 15

As the _Gutprow_ came clear of the rocks to the open shore, the broadstream ran slightly more shallow. Rows of young griffons on the deck, chained to the oars. They were being made to stand and punt with their oar paddles, digging them into the sandy shallows to push the vessel along. Vermin with whips stood over them, ready to flay the griffons if they didn't row fast enough. Rage coursed through Sunflash at the sight.

A rat, obviously the captain, was on the forward prow of the ship, tattooed from face to claws, decked out in tattered silks and brass earrings, with a broad scimitar thrust in his waistband. As he turned to face his crew, he pulled out his scimitar and roared, "Ahoy, buckos, who's the best Cap'n on land or sea?"

They cheered and shouted his name. "Captain Warpclaw!"

Sunlight glittered and trickled on his brass ornaments and shining scimitar as Warpclaw threw wide his paws triumphantly.

 _Whump!_

The searat was thrown flat on his back as the ship stopped dead. Two crewrats sitting on the after gallery were shot backward into the water. A stricken-faced lookout came sliding down a rope and shot past Warpclaw, who was staggering upright and rubbing at the back of his skull with both paws.

The lookout hung over the bows, yelling, "She's trapped 'ead on atwixt two dirty great rocks! They wasn't 'ere when we sailed up this way! Eeeeyyaaarrgg!"

With a hefty kick from Warpclaw, the lookout went straight over into the water. Still massaging his aching head, the Corsair captain looked over at the spluttering rat in the water. "Guts 'n' tripes! Who stuck them there?" he snarled.

"Give the griffons back, seascum!"

Warpclaw whirled around. Sunflash was striding across the beach, flanked by the two griffons and Rainbow Dash. The badger's voice was like thunder as he hefted his mace. "I won't tell you twice, rat! Deliver those little ones back. Now!"

Warpclaw was a quick thinker. Forgetting his throbbing head, he leapt down amidships and pressed his scimitar to the throat of a griffon.

"Stop right there or I'll slay this'n!" he bellowed.

Sunflash and the rescuers ground to an immediate halt. The badger pointed with his mace at the trapped griffon. "I warn you, rat, touch one feather of him and you'll die!"

Warpclaw knew it was a standoff, but he had the upper paw. "Shift those boulders or I'll kill 'em all, every last one!"

The crew of _Gutprow_ sprang to arms; suddenly the rails bristled with armed vermin. Warpclaw chuckled. "Well, stripedog, you look big enough. Are yer goin' to move the rocks?"

Sunflash could not stop his voice trembling as he answered, "Give the babes back and I'll free your ship."

The searat knew he had won. Drawing the scimitar further back, as if ready to chop, he called down to the badger, "Tell yer wot I'll do. We'll call this liddle maggot number one, then I'll keep slicin' 'em until you move those rocks!"

The wide blade glittered in the sun as he swung at the griffon.

Rainbow Dash hit the searat like a sonic rainboom! He fell backward onto the deck. Then Sunflash the Mace was aboard the ship in a flash, bloodwrath of the Badger Warrior Lords filling his eyes.

Rainbow Dash knew what was about to happen; she was powerless to stop it. Seeing the shackle that connected the slave chain, she wrenched at it madly until it clattered free, then she shrieked at the griffons, "Get clear of the ship!"

Scrabbling for his scimitar, Warpclaw rasped hoarsely at the crew of the _Gutprow,_ "Kill the badger, rip 'im, tear 'im to shreds!"

As the crew advanced on Sunflash, the freed griffons flew away from the ship. A blood chilling roar rang out from the deck. "Eulalia!"

Gilda tried to fly to the ship, but Rainbow Dash blocked her, saying, "Stay away! Sunflash has the Bloodwrath, he's berserk! He'll kill anybeast that gets in his path!"

"But we've gotta help him fight the searats!"

Rainbow shook her head. "Sunflash can handle them on his own. If you try to help him, he might accidently kill you too."

But Gilda wouldn't listen, and Rainbow had to forcibly restrain her.

Roars, screams and chaos echoed from the _Gutprow._ With his back against the mast, Sunflash faced the searats six at a time. Daggers stabbed, blades swished, but none could stand before him. The mace swung and fell, whirling in arcs, sweeping like a scythe, smashing like a sledgehammer. The searats fought back with desperation, but their swords snapped like twigs as the Badger Warrior wielded his mace so fast that it was hard for the eye to follow. His strength and speed were unmatched.

Not one searat or wave vermin left the ship alive. When his terrible task was at an end, Sunflash let slip the mace from his paws and lay down in a stupor by the mast.


	16. Chapter 16

Sunflash was awakened by the lonely cry of seabirds. Lowering himself over the ship's side, he washed all traces of battle from his body and cleaned off his mace in the cold water. The badger's eyes were normal now, back to their usual mild, dark-brown hue.

Rainbow Dash landed nearby and watched as Sunflash took his mace and smashed two gaping holes in the _Gutprow,_ one each side, amidships, just above the waterline. Placing his mace to one side, he waded into the broadstream and, bending his back and grunting with exertion, he loosened the two boulders from the streambed and rolled them ashore. The water had been building up behind the vessel, and now that it was free of the restraining boulders, the ship sprang clear. Night winds caught the sail, billowing it out; the _Gutprow_ was off on its last voyage.

Sunflash sat down on the sand beside Rainbow Dash, his shoulders bowed wearily, saying, "She will sail out into deep waters until the waves find those holes; then she will go to the bottom."

A great fire was lit on the beach; Bella and the griffons sat round it with their backs to the rocks. Gilda flew over to Sunflash, her feathers still disheveled from fighting with Rainbow Dash. "Wow dude, you really did a number on those rats."

The badger shook his head in confusion. "I don't have a clear memory of it; it all went by so fast."

"I would have helped you take care of 'em if Rainbow 'Dweeb' hadn't stopped me," Gilda said.

"Yes, I'm sure you would have," Sunflash replied absently.

"Well, anyway, thanks. The name of Sunflash the Mace will live forever with the griffons of Griffonstone."

Sunflash nodded, but still he sat alone until his mother Bella came and sat by him. "You're experiencing the first feelings of being a Badger Lord, aren't you?" she said. "I know it's hard."

"It's terrifying," said Sunflash. "I had no control of myself while I was on that ship. If my friend Rainbow Dash or one of the griffons had flown aboard while I was in the grip of the Bloodwrath, I would have killed them without being able to stop myself. It might even have been you!"

"Bloodwrath is something all badgers must learn to deal with," said Bella. "But the good news is that many of us outgrow it as we get older, as I did. And you did do a good thing today; you liberated all those griffons from slavery."

"I know," said Sunflash. "I just… need to be alone for a while." He headed off into the sand dunes.

Rainbow Dash saw him walking away. "Where is he going?" she asked.

"He just needs a break for a while," said Bella. "The Bloodwrath has taken a toll on him; it is the same with all Badger Lords. I've seen my father, Boar the Fighter, act like this before."

"Will he be okay?"

"Yes, he will be fine," Bella said. "Our journey is nearing an end. The mountain of Salamadastron is not far away now; I can feel it in my bones."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The last day of autumn was hot and bright as midsummer. Still as a millpond, the sea reflected a cloudless blue sky. Seabirds wheeled and called, soaring lazily on the warm thermals above the sun-baked sands of the shore. Sunflash stood for a moment, his breath taken away by the majesty of the great mountain that lay ahead of him.

"Is this it?" he inquired.

"This is it," his mother replied.

Sunflash gave a huge sigh. Leaning against a rock, he rested his club on the sand. "I feel as if I've been here before," he said strangely.

Two hares, a male and a female, stood shaded by a cave entrance. When they stepped out from the shadows, Sunflash could see that both were of a very great age. But they had smiles on their ancient faces.

"Great seasons o' soup an' salad!" exclaimed the male hare. "Bella of Brockhall! I didn't think I'd ever be seein' you again, wot wot!"

The female hare produced victuals from within the cave entrance. "Rest awhile. Eat and drink. I am called Breeze, and this is my brother Starbuck. What do they call you?"

Sunflash smiled and touched one of his headstripes. "Some call me Sunflash the Mace. I am the son of Bella and Barkstripe."

Starbuck nodded in satisfaction. "Your travelling is at an end, Sunflash. You are the grandson of Boar the Fighter and great grandson of Old Lord Brocktree. It is written on the walls of our mountain that you would come here someday."

Sunflash straightened up. He stared hard at the hares. "Written, you say. By whom?"

Breeze shrugged. "By whoever wrote that other hares will follow after us. That is the way it has always been and always will be."

Both hares stood in the cave entrance. They bowed to the badger. "Welcome to your mountain, Sunflash the Mace, Lord of Salamandastron."

The high sun above watched as the badgers and the hares went together into the mountain on the shores below.

Rainbow and Gilda had watched all from the crater peak of the mountain fortress. Fierce pride welled in the Pegasus's heart for the badger who had given her back her life all those long seasons ago in a winter forest. A single tear appeared in her eye.

"Hey dude, are you cryin'?" Gilda asked brusquely.

"Course not. It's just sweat." She wiped it away. "Last one back to Equestria is a gnarly dragon egg!"

Without a backward glance, the Pegasus and the griffon soared off into the blue.


	17. Chapter 17

As the earth turned slowly, time passed and season followed season many times. Sunflash the Mace grew into a strong and wise ruler, under the guidance of his mother Bella. He used the knowledge he had gained from Applejack's family to cultivate the slopes of Salamandastron mountain, planting apple trees all over. As the seasons passed he became an expert farmer, and creatures traveled from far and wide to learn from his great wisdom. More and more young hares (and a few other creatures) joined his Long Patrol. Rainbow Dash visited her friend Sunflash constantly, dividing her time between Salamandastron and Ponyville.

Swartt Sixclaw and his horde wandered the land, through woodland, across rivers, over mountains, often lost and frequently sidetracked by dissent and mutiny. But his obsession, to avenge himself upon the badger who had maimed and deadened his famous sixclaw, drove the Warlord onward.

Back in Ponyville, Fluttershy tried to raise Veil to be a goodbeast. She cared for him, nursed him, and comforted him; the Pegasus loved Veil as if she were his own mother. But everywhere Veil went, things went missing. Each time Fluttershy had defended him, never able to believe he was the thief. Often he was caught red-pawed, then she would apologize for him, lectures would follow, then tears and solemn promises from Veil that he had changed his ways. Then he would go on to do the same thing all over again. When Veil was in his teen seasons, he got a job working with Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner.

One day, the ponies received news that Celestia and Luna were coming to Ponyville for a visit. Pinkie decided to make an extra large order of cupcakes to celebrate. All of her friends came in to Sugarcube Corner to help her with the baking.

"Has anypony seen my little blue honeypot?" Pinkie asked.

She wandered distractedly around the kitchen, mixing batter in a bowl that she carried as she went, searching hither and thither. "I thought I left it on the counter there. Fluttershy, did you move it?"

"No, Pinkie, I'm sorry, I haven't seen it," Fluttershy said quietly.

Pinkie beat the mixture in the bowl furiously with her ladle. "That pot was really really special! It belonged to my mother, and she gave it to me when I left the rock farm. It's one of the few things I have from my family."

"Well, Ah'll bet an apple to an acorn it was that ferret Veil that took it," said Applejack.

Just then Veil came in. "Veil, did you take my honeypot?" Pinkie Pie asked.

The ferret scowled. "No. I don't know anything about it."

But Applejack was the element of honesty and she could tell when somebeast was lying. She noticed that Veil had not returned Pinkie Pie's gaze when he answered. Quick as a flash, she leapt at the ferret and grabbed him by the ear. "C'mon, ferret, what did ya do with it?"

"Yeeeaah! Let me go! Ouch! Fluttershy!" Veil squealed.

Fluttershy was between the two in a flash, pulling Veil from the wrathful earth pony's clutches. "Leave him alone this very instant, Applejack! How dare you treat Veil like that! Why should he know anything about the honeypot? You're _always_ blaming him if anything goes missing!"

Rarity looked up. "That's probably because Veil is usually the one responsible!" she said.

Veil said, "That's not fair, I've changed! I only did things like that when I was younger! I don't steal anymore."

The unicorn rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. You're wearing eyeliner that you stole from _me_ this very minute."

"No, see, your sister Sweetie Belle gave that to me," Veil lied.

"What in Celestia's name is going on here?" Twilight Sparkle had glided in unnoticed. She had wings now because she was an alicorn now! Silence fell in the room. She looked from one to the other. "Please explain all the noise and shouting."

The explanations came thick and fast, everybeast trying to get their say in at once.

"That little robber, he's taken my honeypot!"

"No, he never, Twilight, they're always blaming Veil!"

"That's cause he's always to blame!"

"No I'm not! They're all against me in this town!"

Twilight held up a hoof for silence. "Pinkie, did you actually see Veil take the honeypot?" she asked.

"Uh, well, no, I didn't, Twilight, but I know it was him!"

"He never, Twilight, he never!"

"Keep out of this, Fluttershy! Veil, did you take Pinkie Pie's honeypot?"

"No, I never took it."

Twilight placed a hoof under the ferret's chin, lifting his head. "Look me in the eye, Veil. Now tell me and I want the truth, you have nothing to fear: Did you take the pot?"

Veil blinked back tears as he tried to return Twilight's gaze. "I told you, I never took it!"

Twilight turned to the other ponies. "Then the matter is finished and done with. Nopony saw Veil take the pot; you shouldn't have accused him without proof. I believe him when he tells me he didn't take it. As for your honeypot, Pinkie, I know how important it is to you, so we'll start searching for it right away."

Fluttershy could not bring herself to help with the search. Putting a hoof around Veil's shoulders, she led him outside.

"Why does everypony hate me?" Veil asked.

"Come on, not everypony hates you. I love you."

"Yeah," Veil said absently. Fluttershy frowned. She was hoping he'd say he loved her too.

Instead he said, "How can a Pegasus be my mother? Look around. All you see is Pegasi, Earth Ponies, and Unicorns. There's not a single other ferret in this town except for one who doesn't talk and walks on all fours. Where can I find other creatures like me?"

"Well, uh, I don't know," Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably.

"Whatever. I'm out of here." The young ferret dashed off.

Fluttershy called after him anxiously. "Veil, come back, I'm on your side, you know that!"

But Veil didn't come back. Instead he went and hid in some bushes by a pond. He pulled something out of the bush. It was Pinkie Pie's honeypot! Smiling craftily, he licked the last of the honey from the pot's rim.

"Thanks for the honey, always tastes sweeter when it's stolen. Nobeast will ever see you again. Just think, I'm the last creature on earth to touch you. Goodbye, little blue pot!"

He threw it high over the pond, drawing in a breath sharply as he realized he had thrown it too hard. The pot flashed blue in the sunlight as it splashed down on the far side. Veil stood on tip-paw, peering across the pond, not able to see the pot. Then the young ferret laughed, shrugged, and ran off. But what he didn't know was that Fluttershy had followed him and seen him do that.

It was midafternoon when Pinkie Pie found her honeypot sitting on the counter at Sugarcube Corner, empty, clean, and washed. She knew that Veil had taken it and Fluttershy must have found it and sneaked it back, but she decided not to say anything about it for the ferret could come out at any moment.


	18. Chapter 18

Clad in a flowing smock and wearing a woven straw hat, Lord Sunflash had become the perfect farmer. He sat with two hares named Porty and Bradberry on a high ledge. Their chores for the day completed, they were enjoying a picnic. Filling his beaker with pennycloud cordial, the badger pointed out an area below them, and said, "We'll have to shore the edges of that salad garden with rocks, stop the rains washing the soil away. Leave a few small gaps for drainage, though."

Bella and a hare called Sundew appeared from a side tunnel, carrying a cloth-covered tray between them. Bradberry sniffed, and said, "I say, somethin' smells jolly fabulous!"

Sundew twitched her ears severely at Bradberry. "Keep your grubby paws away from this, gannet face, it was made specially for Lord Sunflash.

Uncovering the tray, Bella set it before her son. A heavy dark cake still warm from the oven gave off fruity aromas. The golden stripe quivered as Sunflash's muzzle twitched. "Bradders is right, it does smell nice! Cut it up quickly- hungry farmers don't like to be kept waiting!"

"It's a plum and almond cake," Bella explained as she cut it into dark, fragrant slices. "Bloggwood the cook used old cider to mix it with; it had to be baked slow to keep it moist."

"Did somebeast say cider?"

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash landed next to the Badger Lord and started in on the slice that Sunflash held up to her.

"Well, my faithful friend," said the badger, "it's more than a season since you last visited me. Eat your cake before you tell me the news."

The pony's throat bulged as she swallowed the last morsel. "That's some good cake. I gotta take some with me when I go. Well, the news is all pretty bad. The Sixclaw is three days from here, with a great horde. Corsairs, pirats, marauders, plunderers, the rakings and scrapings of sea and shoreline, as many as leaves in an autumn gale!"

The big badger's jaw tightened. "What about our friends in Ponyville?"

Rainbow's fierce eye winked. "He didn't go through Ponyville. He entered Mossflower farther east."

Suddenly, the cake was forgotten. Sunflash rose and said, "Come to my forge room, Sundew, and tell the officers of our Long Patrol to meet me there urgently. This is a counsel of war."

The hare officers of the Long Patrol gathered in the forge room, along with some local otters and squirrels who were allies of Sunflash. Sunflash sat on the window seat, and Rainbow Dash perched on the sill.

Rainbow said, "This ferret has a horde greater than any ever seen, far too big to be met in the open. He's got more soldiers than Queen Chrysalis had changelings, more than four times the size of your forces. I've been busy raising help, that's why I got here so late."

Sabretache, a hare carrying a long sword, spoke out. "Help? What sort of help?"

Rainbow pointed north with her outstretched wing. "Griffons. Gilda has promised me six score of griffon warriors to come in and strike at the rear of the vermin when they arrive on the beach. I don't know how much a score is, but it sounds like a lot."

"A score is twenty, so six score would be a hundred an' twenty," said Sabretache.

Sunflash nodded his approval. "That is good; if the horde of Swartt is as large as you say we will need all the help we can get. Have you any other ideas, Rainbow Dash?"

"A few days' flight from here, there's a kingdom of dragons. Their leader, Princess Amber, is a staunch ally of Equestria. If you give me your talisman, I can use it to recruit some dragons."

"Recruit the reptiles, that sounds jolly good, wot wot!" exclaimed Sabretache.

"The Guosim shrews are in the area right now, they can help us too," said Sundew.

"And I can go to Redwall Abbey and see if there are any warriors there willing to assist," said Bella.

Then Sunflash said, "Our main fighting will be done from the mountain. We have supplies here, food and water to last us, and that puts the foebeast at a disadvantage. Their provisions are carried with them and cannot last long. Now, is there anything we can do to harass them while they are down on the shores in front of here? I am open to suggestions."

"We can dig long trenches, line 'em with sharpened stakes, an' cover 'em with rush mats disguised by sand," said a squirrel.

"Good idea, but surely they'll see them."

A female hare called Hedgepaw held up a light javelin. "Not if me an' a few jolly old Sleepers give the blighters a taste of these. They'll run straight into the blinkin' pits."

"What are the Sleepers?" Rainbow Dash asked.

The most senior hare, a rangy male named Colonel Sandgall, winked knowingly at her. "Sleepers, marm, take too bally long to explain what they do, but rest assured that each of these blighters, who fondly call themselves Officers, have a job t' do an' can do it rather well, don't ya know. Beggin' y'pardon, m'Lord," he addressed Sunflash, "But if you concentrate your efforts fortifyin' all entrances an' exits at ground level, then we'll see to the rest. Actually, I think the right form for the present is to marshal an' arm all the troops, wot?"

Sunflash was impressed with the confidence and ingenuity of his hares; he knew that despite their affected speech manner, they were dangerous beasts and expert warriors. But he had a final word. "Good enough, I'll leave you Officers to it. However, stay away from the Warlord, Swartt Sixclaw- he's mine!"

Every creature in the forge room knew by the look on the Badger Lord's face that he would brook no interference in the matter of his sworn enemy. They saluted smartly and went off about their duties.

Overnight, Salamandastron was transformed into a military garrison. The hares emptied both forge room and armory of weapons; and bows, arrows, slings, and rocks were stacked at every rock slit and window in the mountain. Young ones were taken deep inside to the central inner caves. Old ones took over the forge, repairing, sharpening, and creating weapons. Random trenches were dug halfway up the shoreline; sharpened stakes stuck up from the trencher beds. Boulder piles began to grow from halfway up the mountain, ready at the removal of wedges to topple down on any foebeast. Rainbow Dash flew off with the medal, and Bella set out for the Abbey of Redwall.

Sunflash worked with a team he had selected. They moved around Salamandastron's base, blocking off entrances and exits with boulders cemented together by powdered limestone and sand mixed with water. The main entrance was blocked by a large, rough-timber gate. Old harewives began baking extra food, readying the sick bay for wounded and manufacturing poultices.

In the midst of all this activity, Sunflash stopped for a moment, to gaze sadly out at the areas he had cultivated. The salad garden had been stripped bare to allow the hares to set up a large, timber-framed rock catapult. He shrugged, sighing deeply. All this peace and beauty that he was trying to create would be ruined by war.

A war that would begin two dawns later.


	19. Chapter 19

The next morning, Veil arrived at work before Pinkie Pie. "Wow, you're here early," she said cheerfully as she came in.

"Yep," Veil said.

Pinkie stood silent for a moment, wondering if Veil was going to apologize for stealing from her, but of course he didn't. "Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie said finally. "Well, we'd better get to work. We've got a long day ahead of us!"

As Veil hurried over to the stove, Pinkie noticed that he had already made one tray of muffins. She was glad that he had gotten a jump on productivity. Maybe this ferret wasn't so bad after all.

The first wave of customers arrived as Pinkie Pie took her position at the counter, bringing the muffins with her.

"Sugarcube Corner is open for business!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed proudly.

"Muffins!" Derpy Hooves ejaculated, the first customer in line.

The muffins were selling like hotcakes when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna arrived with Twilight Sparkle. "Hello, princesses!" said Pinkie. "How was your trip here? Was it marvelsplendidly wonderific?"

"Yes," said Celestia. "Are those fresh baked muffins?"

"Sure are! Veil baked 'em this morning. Want one? No charge for princesses!"

"Yes, thank you," said Celestia. But Twilight and Luna didn't have muffins, they just had cupcakes or something I don't know it's not important.

After they finished eating, Twilight and the royal sisters left Sugarcube Corner and headed for Rarity's Boutique.

"Things have been going along great here, Your Majesties," said Twilight as they walked through Ponyville. "There haven't been any vermin or other evil creatures sighted in town since Sunflash left."

But then suddenly Celestia started to groan. Twilight was concerned. "What's the matter, Princess?"

"I don't know," Celestia gasped. "I feel a pain in my stomach."

Then Fluttershy and Applejack ran up urgently. "Twilight! You've got to come back to Sugarcube Corner! Pinkie Pie says a bunch of ponies are sick!"

Twilight questioned the pair. "Sick? What's the matter with them?"

Applejack spread her hooves, mystified. "Ah don't know. First they're a-tummypainin', then groanin' an' a-moanin' somethin' awful."

"Celestia is sick too," Twilight said.

"I will bring my sister to the hospital," said Luna. "Twilight, you go back there and get to the bottom of this."

Pinkie was wringing her hooves helplessly when they arrived. Customers lay doubled up on the floor, shivering, and pony paramedics were carting them away to the hospital.

"It must have been something I ate," Derpy moaned. "Probably the potato I ate for breakfast," she added as she took another bite out of her muffin.

Cheerilee was decidedly pale, and greenish around her lips. "Ooooohhh! The pain, the agony!" she wept.

Veil came out of the kitchen. He looked puzzled. "What's all the fuss about?" he asked.

Twilight inspected one of the victims, feeling her brow, sniffing her breath. "Looks like poison to me," she announced.

A look of horror passed over Fluttershy's face. "Poison?"

Veil sat down in disbelief. "Poisoned? But why?" He grasped Fluttershy's hoof, his lip quivering. "Who would do such a thing?"

Fluttershy watched tears pop out onto the young ferret's cheek. She hugged him, glad that he could show such tender feelings. "There, there, they never said anypony did it, perhaps it was just an accident, something got into the cupcakes or muffins somehow, who knows?"

The Pegasus felt sympathy for Veil, he looked so upset.

"I guess we'll have to close for the rest of the day," Pinkie sighed. "Fluttershy, you can take Veil home."

As Fluttershy and Veil left, Twilight said, "It couldn't have been the cupcakes. I had one of those, and I feel fine. Celestia is sick too, and she had a muffin. What was in the muffins?"

"I don't know!" Pinkie cried. "I didn't make the muffins, Veil did."

"Should have figured," Twilight said. "Are there any of those muffins left?"

"Why do _you_ want one? If you eat it, you'll get sick too!"

"I'm not going to eat it," Twilight explained. "I'm gonna take it back to my house and see if I can figure out what the poison was."

"Okie dokie lokie," Pinkie said sadly. "Better hurry."


	20. Chapter 20

At the Ponyville Hospital, Princess Celestia had taken a turn for the worse. She was confined to a hospital bed, barely able to move. She had an oxygen mask on. Her sister Princess Luna was sitting by her bed when Twilight came in.

"Have you discovered the source of the poison yet?" Luna demanded.

"Well… no," Twilight admitted. "I analyzed the contents of the last muffin, but I couldn't find anything wrong with it."

"What?!" Luna was furious. "I can't believe this! You told my sister and I that you had things well in hoof here, Sparkle! Now we get here and discover that there's an outbreak of poison in this town?"

Twilight tried to pacify the angry princess. "Stuff like this doesn't normally happen in Ponyville. I promise I'll catch the maniac who did this in no time."

"And I promise you," Luna replied, her voice seething with rage, "if Celestia doesn't recover, when I place my hooves on the beast responsible, I will literally rip his-"

She was interrupted by the sound of her sister stirring. "Luna…"

"Celestia!" Luna gasped.

"Don't get angry. Stay calm. Twilight will find a way…" Celestia got that much out before she slipped into unconsciousness.

Hearing her sister's voice had pacified Luna somewhat. "I'm sorry for blaming you, Twilight Sparkle. It's not your fault that someone in Ponyville is a poisoner," she said. "You've solved much harder problems than this. You can unravel this mystery."

"I appreciate your confidence in me, Princess," said Twilight.

Later she went to Pinkie Pie's house to confide in her. "Why did this have to happen on the very day when Celestia and Luna came to town?" she lamented.

"You didn't find out what was wrong with the muffins?" Pinkie asked.

"No, I couldn't detect any poison."

"Well, is it okay if I eat the rest of this then?" Pinkie produced a half-eaten muffin.

Twilight was thunderstruck. "Where did you find that?"

"On a table at Sugarcube Corner."

"That's it!" Twilight exclaimed. "The poison must have somehow not gotten into the muffin I took. Somepony already took a bite out of this one and got sick, though, so it's poisonous for sure. I'll take it back to my house and run a test on it. Thanks, Pinkie!"

She hurried home to analyze the muffin.


	21. Chapter 21

Next morning, Princess Luna called a town meeting. Everypony (and also every ferret) came. Luna was standing up on the stage with Twilight.

"Silence, please. Stay where you are, everypony. I have something to say to you all, and to one in particular. A terrible thing has happened. Never, in the history of Equestria has anything like this ever occurred. Last night, my sister Princess Celestia, along with many others, was very close to death. They were poisoned, but not by any accident. It is my opinion that Celestia was poisioned by somebeast standing here in our midst this morning!"

An uproar and clamor arose until Twilight pounded her hoof down on the stage. "Order! Give order an' let the Princess have her say!"

Luna continued in a loud clear voice. "There is a poisoner among us, but whoever did this awful deed will not escape justice." She passed the mic to Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight said, "I analyzed the contents of the poisonous muffins last night and discovered that the poisoner used wolfbane, a plant that I know much about. Luckily I know how to mix an antidote, so our princess will be fine. But if you hold wolfbane with bare hooves, it will leave a mark on them. A red stain will appear within two days of holding the plant. The only way to get rid of it is to wash your hands in a special herbal mixture, the same mixture that cures the poison. So by the end of the day, Celestia and the rest will all be back up on their hooves. And we'll also know who our poisoner is."

Everypony cheered. Then they all separated to go about their day's chores and pastimes. Except for Veil, who remained where he was, stiff as a statue, sweat beading upon his nose. He wished he could raise his paws to wipe the sweat away, but he was afraid that his paws would already be red and somepony would see. He felt stunned. This time he would not be able to deny his guilt. Unless he could somehow sneak into Twilight Sparkle's house and wash his paws in the special herbal bath.

"Come on, Veil!" Fluttershy called to him. "Applejack said we could help her pick apples today, though she doesn't like us to eat 'em all."

The young ferret was gazing at his paws as he replied, "You go, I'll catch you up later."

By midafternoon, Veil was convinced that his paws were beginning to redden. He had rubbed them hard on the grass, scrubbed them more than a dozen times, and at one point even used a piece of sandstone to scour at them. His paws were sore, and the more he looked at them, the more he believed they were turning red. All day he wandered around town in a daze, avoiding Fluttershy. More than once he had wandered over to Twilight's house, only to find Spike the dragon sitting on the stairs every time. He showed no signs of moving, and the young ferret had to make himself scarce, or Spike might get suspicious.

When night fell, Veil made his way back to Fluttershy's house, where he slunk into his room and crawled into bed. Soon Fluttershy came and knocked at his door, calling, "Veil, it's me, Fluttershy. Can I come in? I feel like I haven't seen you all day."

The reply was loud and surly. "No you can't. Go away- I'm trying to sleep!"

"Are you feeling all right, Veily?"

"Go away, I said. Go away! Why can't you leave me alone?" The ferret's voice was shrill with temper.

Pressing her face to the door, Fluttershy spoke softly. "Poor Veil, I'm sorry I disturbed you. Have a nice sleep if you don't feel well; see you in the morning. Good night."

But when she leaned against the door, she pushed it open. Suddenly she gasped. Veil's bed was empty! There was only a cassette player in there. And the window was open!

"Go away, I said. Go away! Why can't you leave alone?" Veil's prerecorded voice said again on the tape.

Meanwhile, Veil was running across town, silent as a fleeting shadow, a length of rope over his shoulder. The sky was cloudy and moonless, giving him perfect cover for his flight.

At last he reached his destination, Twilight's house. He looked up and saw that a window was half open. Veil was strong and agile, and he found that he did not need the rope. He had been climbing trees all his life. There was no lack of pawholds, and soon he was up on the windowsill. Holding his breath, the ferret inched the window open wider. It creaked slightly, but not very loud; he slipped inside.

Twilight lay on a bed inside, completely covered by a blanket. Veil could hear her snoring gently. He stood on the window seat and allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness inside. He saw a faint strip of light coming under the door, and slowly, softly, he made his way to it, taking care not to knock against any object he felt in his path. Then he was outside in the hall, where he saw a table. A glint of copper told him that the basin of herbal solution stood on the tabletop. Placing one footpaw carefully in front of the other, Veil made his way slowly to the table. With a deep sigh of relief, he let his paws sink into the dark, cool herbal mixture; now he was safe.

Suddenly…

"Veil! What are you doing?"

It was… Fluttershy!

Startled, Veil dropped the basin to the ground with a crash. Red liquid spilled all over the floor.

"F-f-fluttershy! How did you know I was here?"

"Well, I followed you. I noticed your window was open, and then I saw you sneaking down the street. Why did you break into Twilight's house?"

Then the light turned on and Twilight came into the hall. She did not look happy. "Caught red pawed. I suspected it was you all along, Veil."

Veil's paws were indeed red. The herbal mixture was red too. In fact, it was the mixture that had turned Veil's paws red!

"Oh my gosh, I'm so, so, sorry, Twilight," Fluttershy panted. "Now your antidote is ruined."

"Oh, that wasn't the real antidote," Twilight said. "The real antidote has already been administered at the hospital. This is just beet juice. Not very herbal, but it dyes red."

Veil glared at Fluttershy. "Stupid, blundering fool! I would have gotten away with this if it weren't for you!" Fluttershy's eyes started to well up with tears.

Then Princess Luna, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie came up from downstairs.

"So, the trick worked," Luna said. "Our culprit fell into your trap, Twilight. Well done!"

"Celestia's fine and expected to live, by the way," Pinkie Pie said, nodding at Veil. "Just so you know."

"That poison was meant for _you!_ " Veil snarled, and launched himself at her, teeth bared. Applejack moved like a blur; one swift hard kick from her hoof connected with the ferret's chin, knocking him spark out.

Fluttershy let out a long shuddering sigh. "Oh, why, oh, why did he do it? How _could_ he? He must have known that he'd be caught sooner or later."

"What'll we do with 'im?" Applejack asked.

"I've got a spare room I can keep him in for tonight," Twilight said. "I guess in the morning Princess Luna will have to decide what his punishment should be."

"You won't be too hard on him, will you?" Fluttershy begged.

Princess Luna just looked at her, not saying a word.


	22. Chapter 22

The following day, the news spread all over town. "The poisoner has been caught in a trap- it was Veil!"

In the afternoon, everypony gathered in the town square. Twilight and Applejack escorted Veil up to the stage, where Luna was waiting. Celestia was up there too, but she was in a wheelchair because she hadn't quite fully recovered yet. Watching from the crowd, Fluttershy drew in her breath sharply. She could see Veil's paws were bound in front of him. He jumped and snarled, biting at his guards as they hauled him along.

Once Veil was onstage, a scowl on his face, Luna addressed the crowd. "You see before you a young ferret called Veil. My sister gave him his name when he was brought here many years ago. Our friend Fluttershy showed him every kindness, trying to teach him the values of the life we live here, to honor, help, befriend, and never to harm others. Sadly he ignored all advice and went his own way, lying, cheating, stealing, and creating bad feeling among ponies. All this could have been forgiven, and has been countless times in the past. However, now Veil has passed the point of forgiveness. He tried to kill one of us."

"I knew he was trouble!" Octavia shouted.

"By rights he should be slain himself for attempting murder," Luna continued, "But my sister Celestia says she will not allow that. So instead, I say to you, Veil: You are no longer one of us. There is no place for you in Equestria. Veil, you must go now. I declare you Outcast!"

A cry like that of a wounded animal broke the silence. Fluttershy dashed onto the stage, trying to get hold of the young ferret. "No, no! Not my Veil! Please, let him stay. I'll look after him, he'll change, you'll see, I'll talk to him…!"

With great effort, Celestia stood up and intercepted Fluttershy before she reached Veil. "Hush now, be still, little one, he is a poisoner and would have murdered had he not been stopped. There is nothing more you can do for him!"

Veil looked stunned as Applejack cut the bonds from his paws, and he stared at Princess Luna, crying, "What about me? Where'll I go now? I've got no family, I'm alone. What'll I do?"

Seizing both the ferret's paws in a vicelike grip, Luna brought her face close and said through gritted teeth, "Little sixclaw the poisoner, eh? Do you know why Celestia named you Veil? She said it was because there was a veil over your life before you came to Ponyville, but the real reason was that Veil is an anagram of EVIL!"

"So, all ferrets are evil, huh?" Veil sneered. "Well, earth ponies are numbskulls. Pegasi are brutes. And unicorns are snobs!"

Luna yelled, "I knew who you were from the day I picked you up in that ditch! You're the whelp of that other six-clawed vermin, Swartt Sixclaw the Warlord! Now go an' work your evil somewhere else, scum!"

She did a magic spell with her horn and Veil suddenly found himself outside of the town. He could still see it in the distance, but when he tried to come closer, he found himself blocked by a magical barrier. He stood quivering with rage, shaking his six-clawed paw in a fist. "You ain't heard the last of me! You dyed these paws red, and red they'll stay to remind me that someday I'll be back! Then I'll slay every living one of you, but this time it won't be just poison I'll use, it'll be a noose, a rock, a dagger, anything I can lay my blood colored paws on!"

Meanwhile, back in Ponyville, Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle held Fluttershy close between them as she pleaded, wept, and begged for them to give Veil one last chance- Veil, the ferret she had reared and loved from a babe, despite all his evil ways.


	23. Chapter 23

Sunflash the Mace surveyed his troops. They had come from far and wide. Perilous hares, mighty dragons, fierce griffons, courageous otters, swift squirrels, feisty shrews, and bold mice. Surely this was a force that could withstand any attack.

"For those who don't know me, let me introduce myself. I'm Lord Sunflash the Mace of Salamandastron, commanding this entire operation, though your orders will probably reach you through your own leaders and chieftains. Now I'll make this as short as possible. According to Rainbow Dash, Swartt Sixclaw's forces are on the move, and headed straight for this mountain. We must defend Salamandastron at all cost! We'll be outnumbered by more than three to one, but we won't be outclassed! We won't be outfought! And as long as I can stand with a mace in my paw, we won't be driven backward a single pace!"

Every creature listening leapt up cheering and brandishing their weapons.

"No surrender! No retreat!"

"Eulalia! 'S death on the wind!"

Sunflash gestured for silence. "Thank you, friends. But as you know, not all of us will come marching home. War is war, and that is a fact. So if there are any of you with families or young 'uns to look after, well, nobeast will think less of ye if you go home to them now."

A mouse named Bunfold who had come from Redwall Abbey stood up. "Beggin' yore pardon, Lord, but I got a family back at Redwall, an' if I didn't go with ye then I'd think less of meself. 'Cause we ain't fightin' the vermin just to protect Salamandastron, we're facin' 'em to make the land safe an' rid of their kind."

Bella trundled up through the army ranks. She halted in front of her son and presented him with a cloth bundle. "Indeed to goodness, you can't have an army without a flag to march under."

Sunflash unrolled the bundle. It was a dark green banner with a big red letter S embroidered on it that stood for Salamandastron and also for Sunflash. Sundew the hare grabbed a long pike and fastened the flag to it. Sunflash took the banner from her and waved it high over the crowd. Back and forth it fluttered in the sunlight as the massed shouts rose to a concerted roar:

"Eulaliaaa!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The absolute size and majesty of Salamandastron staggered Swartt Sixclaw when he first saw the mountain. But he kept his cool. His plan was to take the mountain from behind in a pincer movement. Little did he know that Sunflash could clearly see him and his horde from his bedchamber window. The badger watched the movements of the vermin in company with Colonel Sandgall, Sundew, and Dragon Princess Ember.

Sandgall adjusted his monocle. "D'you know, I do believe the blighters've brought enough troops along to make a decent scrap of it, wot?"

"Well, if they fight as sloppily as they drill, we shouldn't have to worry too much," said Ember.

Sunflash smiled at Sundew. "Afraid, missie?" he asked.

She looked up at the Badger Lord, his golden stripe showing through the open visor of a high black war helmet, massive chest covered by a fine chain-mail tunic, and the great mace balanced easily over his broad shoulder.

"Not while you're around, Sire!" she said.

Now the horde was fully marshaled with the neap tide protecting their rear and a forest of spears and lances pointing skyward. Hordebeasts stood shoulder to shoulder, covering the whole lower beach, so that not even the sand below the tideline was visible. Swartt came to the forefront. The Warlord's face and teeth were freshly stained with bright plant dyes, and his heavily chain-mailed sixclaw glittered brighter than the switchblade thrust into the pocket of his jacket. He drew his blade and pointed at Salamandastron. That was the signal. The horde began marching slowly forward, splitting into three groups as it did.

Sunflash hurried from the chamber, threading his way through the mountain passages to the left side, where he knew Swartt was heading, followed by the griffons and most of the hares. Ember led the dragons to the front entrance, while Bella and Rainbow and some other creatures headed to defend the right side of the mountain.

Zigu the Corsair, a ferret captain in Swartt's horde who was revered among the vermin as though he were a god, mounted a charge at the front entrance of Salamandastron. He and his command were hardly upon the soft sand above the tideline, when the ground rose up in front of them. Thirty hares leaped from a shallow trench covered by sand spread over the top of rush mats- these were the Sleepers that Sandgall had spoken of. They sprang up from hiding when the front line of vermin was less than twenty paces away. A wild cry went up as they launched javelins into the front marchers.

"Eulalia!"

Completely taken by surprise, half the front rank were slain. The Sleepers fled back to the mountain, taking care to leap over the disguised trench that contained sharpened stakes. Zigu flung himself to one side, avoiding the rain of javelins, then, leaping upright, he drew his rapier.

"After them. Charge!"

The words had scarcely left his mouth, when the sand another score of paces away heaved upward and four dozen hare and squirrel archers opened fire upon the vermin. Again Zigu's lightning reactions saved him. Flinging himself flat, he heard the screams and felt the thudding weight of two horde soldiers as they fell dead on top of him. Pushing the bodies roughly aside, the Corsair sprang up, and, grabbing a spear from one of the slain vermin, he hurled it at the fleeing backs of the retreating Sleepers. It was a lucky throw. Fordpetal, a young female hare, went down with a scream, the spear sticking out of her back.

Zigu looked around for another spear to throw as the hordebeasts charged past him. Fifty paces farther on they vanished into the covered stakepits; agonized yells rent the hot air as vermin soldiers plunged onto the sharpened stakes.

Zigu roared at those still alive, "Back! Back, you fools, can't you see it's a trap?"

As they retreated, the Corsair ran to where Fordpetal lay groaning. His face tight with rage, Zigu lashed at her with the long blade of his rapier.

"Hit and run, eh hare! Well, I'm hitting now, let's see you run!"

She screamed as he lashed her mercilessly with the thin blade.

"Hey filth face, why don't ya try doin' that to somebeast who can hit back?"

Zigu looked up to see Princess Ember striding purposefully toward him, followed by scores of other dragons, all armed with swords. The dragons could breathe fire but Sunflash had told them to just use their swords in the battle because the fire could get out of control.

Zigu grinned evilly, calling to his hordebeasts, "Leave this one to me, she carries a blade!"

Ignoring the gaping hordebeasts, Ember leapt the stakepit. Drawing her saber, she confronted Zigu.

Nobeast had ever bested the Corsair in swordfight. Flexing the long steel blade between his paws, he stared contemptuously at the dragon, who stood alone before him. "Zounds, you're a bold lizard and no mistake. Come and be spitted!"

Ember shot forward, her narrow curving saber striking the rapier blade with a force that sent shockwaves tingling through her opponent's paw. She smiled recklessly. "Defend yourself, ferret!"

Balancing lightly on their feet, both beasts took up the en garde position, sword points flickering like snake tongues as each sought an opening. Momentarily the front shore of Salamandastron grew silent. Hordebeasts on the sand and defenders from the mountain stood stock still, watching the two swordbeasts battle to the death.

Zigu pressed forward, step, step, step, his rapier seeking the elusive foe. Ember backed and went sideways, the saber a bright blur as it slashed and took the ferret's ear. Scarcely believing what had happened, Zigu clapped a paw to the side of his head, glaring venomously at the dragon. One hand behind her back, Ember stood with her legs bowed. "Can you still hear me, vermin?"

With a roar of rage, Zigu charged, flailing the rapier in front of him. The two blades met, and sand flew about their feet as they locked in a dance of death. Blade clashed upon blade as they battled across the beach. Zigu managed to grab Ember's sword arm with his free one, and as the dragon pulled away, the Corsair struck a downward slash at her head, hissing triumphantly.

"Sssssdeath!"

Ember flicked her head to one side, avoiding the blade slicing at her throat. She came up smiling, running a hand along the fine scar tracing her cheek.

"Not quite. Want to try again?"

Zigu plunged forward once more, but the dragon was ready. Locking hilts with the ferret, she wrenched down and gave a powerful twist upward. The rapier described a glittering arc in the noon sun as it left Zigu's paw, then a swift kick to the stomach left the Corsair sprawling, unarmed.

Panic glistened in Zigu's eyes, he had met his match. Gasping for breath, he pleaded for his life, "Mercy, a boon, a boon, spare me!"

There was no mercy in the face of the Dragon Princess. "You ask for mercy, ferret? You who moments ago whipped a wounded creature with your blade? You have lived the life of a coward, now die like a soldier!"

Zigu slid lifeless to the sand. Princess Ember tucked her sword beneath her elbow like a stick and flew boldly off. While the fight had been in progress, two other dragons had sneaked out and retrieved Fordpetal's body.


	24. Chapter 24

It was an hour after dawn when Twilight Sparkle discovered Fluttershy had left town. The day after Veil's exile, she went to Fluttershy's house, hoping to comfort her, but instead found the house empty and a note from Fluttershy on the door, saying she had gone to find Veil.

Grasshoppers chirruped their ceaseless high cadence; somewhere high in the cloudless blue a skylark trilled; bees droned busily from kingcup to meadow saffron, and butterflies perched upon scabious flowers, their wings like small, still sails on the calm air. Fluttershy stopped awhile, enjoying the feel of dry curling grass underhoof as she got her bearings. The sun was easterly and climbing toward high noon. She moved until it was against her right shoulder, striding off after Veil.

It took Fluttershy some time to shake off the feeling of depression she had encountered when leaving Ponyville. All morning she kept looking back, watching the town diminish in size as she got farther away. Finally she crossed a long rolling hill and Ponyville was lost to sight. The Pegasus knew what she must do: find Veil and bring him back, even though he had been made Outcast and sent away. Fluttershy had been forming her own plans for both of them. She could get some of her Earth Pony friends to help her build a small dwelling in the Everfree Forest. There she would live with Veil, teaching him how to behave well and showing everypony how he had changed for the good. Maybe, just maybe, the princesses would one day regret their decision and allow Veil to return to Equestria.

It was midnoon before Fluttershy decided to take a break and eat something. Choosing a shaded patch on the side of a broken hill, she sat down and opened her saddlebag. She selected a russet apple that Applejack had given her the other day. She recalled how she had helped Applejack harvest the apples, and then she remembered how that very night she had learned that Veil was the poisoner. She started to cry.

"Er, hrumm, hrumm, I'll 'ave that if y'don't like it, pony!"

She looked up to see a very fat robin watching her. It nodded at the apple. "Y'don't 'ave to eat that if'n it makes y'cry. Give it t' me, y'll feel 'appier, I know y'will."

Fluttershy hiccupped. The robin bobbed its head. "Gone an' give y'self hiccups now, 'aven't you, should never whinge while eatin', bad f'you!"

Fluttershy turned her head away, trying to stem the tears. "I'm n… not whinging, j… just l… leave m… me alone p… please!"

The robin fluttered off slowly. "Chipp! Not very good company, are yer?"

Fluttershy got her hiccups under control and shouted after the bird, "You didn't see a ferret pass this way, by any chance?"

"Might 'ave. Give me the rest o' that apple an' I'll tell you. 'S no good t' you, on'y makes y'cry."

Fluttershy passed over the remainder of the apple. The robin began pecking it thoughtfully, head to one side. "Ferret passed this way las' evenin'."

"Well, which way did he go, please?"

One wing shot out pointing southwest, the exact direction in which Fluttershy was traveling.

"That way! Bye-bye, crypony!" He flew off fast.

Suddenly Fluttershy felt drained and tired, exhausted by the long walk and her emotions. Curling up, she fell asleep in the twinkling of an eye.

A breeze, or an insect, or something tickling her muzzle, brought Fluttershy back to wakefulness. Slowly, she opened one eye and saw a set of purple hooves.

"Wake up, Fluttershy, it's only me!"

Fluttershy sat bolt upright, crying, "Twilight! What are you doing here?"

Twilight took her hoof. "You're my good friend, Fluttershy. I'm not gonna leave you to go off searchin' for Veil all alone."

Fluttershy seized Twilight and hugged her. "You're a true friend, Twilight, a good, loyal companion. Thank you!"

Without another word the two friends set off together, flying southwest.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was evening, still light, but getting on to dusk, and Veil was hungry and thirsty. The ferret had eaten only a few young dandelion shoots and some edible roots all day. He remembered something Fluttershy had told him once, which she said she had learned from Twilight. If you were dehydrated, you could suck on a stone for a while, and that would get the juices in your mouth working. He popped a flat pebble into his mouth, but it didn't help. His mouth just got dryer, and he began to choke and cough. Veil spat the pebble out disgustedly, his respect for Fluttershy decreasing by the second.

He noticed a faint glow from some hills, to the north of his route. Overcome by curiosity, he sneaked silently over. As he drew nearer the hill, he could tell the glow was being made by a fire in a small hollow at the hill's base. Flattening himself belly down against the grass, the ferret wriggled forward quietly. When he was close enough, he lifted his head and looked.

It was a hare in a blue and white robe. Veil had met hares before. Lord Sunflash sometimes visited Ponyville, and occasionally he had brought some of his Long Patrol hares with him. Veil could tell that this particular hare was a stranger to him, but decided to approach him anyway. Veil walked into the firelight with both paws spread wide and a disarming smile upon his face.

"AHHHH! A ferret!" the hare screamed. He pressed his ears down over his eyes in fear.

"Pray, friend, don't alarm yourself," Veil said, keeping his voice soft and low. "I come in peace."

Instantly the hare's manner changed and he became welcoming. "Oh. Ok." He pronounced OK like "Ock." "Allow me to introduce myself, old chap. My name is William David Truman Joshua Stag Hare, but you can call me Joshy, wot! I'm a wizard."

Veil improvised a pack of lies. "My name's Pinkie Pie. I lost my mother and father, aye, and a sister too, last winter. I've been on my own ever since, wandering field and forest. Er, did you say you were a wizard?"

"That's right! I'm on my way to the mountain of Salamandastron right now to use my magical powers to assist the Badger Lord Sunflash in defeatin' the evil ferret Warlord Swartt Sixclaw."

Veil started at the sound of that name, recognizing it as the name of his father according to Luna. "Swartt Sixclaw?"

"Yeah, they call him that because he has six claws on each paw." Veil hurriedly thrust his own six-clawed paws into his pockets.

"Well, I don't have anywhere in particular to go," the ferret said nonchalantly. "Maybe I'll go with you to the mountain and help." _Help my father kill the badger,_ he thought to himself.

"Well, that sounds jolly good to me," said Joshy. "Only problem is the other creatures at Salamandastron might have apprehensions about trustin' a vermin. But I can vouch for you. I say, d'you fancy some scoff? I know I do. I'm flippin' famished, wot?"

"What's scoff?" Veil asked.

"Why scoff is food, don't ya know!"

"But I don't see any food around here," the ferret said.

"Well, I'm goin' to conjure it, wot wot! Stand back!" Joshy commanded as he pulled a magic wand out of his robe. "F-f-f-fried chicken!" And there it was. A whole bunch of fried chicken on the ground.

"I thought hares didn't eat meat," Veil said.

"Most of 'em don't, but this is different, 'cos I didn't kill another animal to get it. I just created it by magic."

Veil picked up a piece of chicken from the ground and munched on it. It was delicious. He had seen chickens on a farm near Ponyville once and always wondered how they would taste, but Fluttershy had forbidden him from eating them. After they had had their fill of chicken, Joshy said "Watermelon!" and a whole bunch of watermelon appeared on the ground. Finally, gorged, they lay down for the sleep of the night. There was still a lot of food left on the ground, but Joshy said, "Just leave it there. Some other hungry creature will come along an' eat it, wot."

"Which way is Salamandastron?" Veil asked.

Joshy waved a paw. "Way south in the west. But now we need to get some sleep. We'll continue on the jolly old journey tomorrow."

The hare was asleep in seconds. Veil could hear him muttering the names of dishes in his sleep. He snickered to himself. The fool had left his magic wand unattended. Some wizard! _This might come in handy,_ he thought as he pocketed it. He also stole a knife and a bunch of the uneaten chicken, wrapping it all up in a blanket to make a bundle. There was far too much for him to carry it all, but he took what he could.

When Joshy Stag Hare woke up in the morning, he had a wound on his head, crusted with dried blood around a swelling lump. "Hmm, must've rolled over an' hit a rock in me sleep. I'll just whip out my wand an' heal myself, wot- I say! Where's the bally thing got to?"

His wand was gone! And his knife was gone! And his blanket was gone! And Veil was gone! And most of his food was gone. The robin that Fluttershy had met the previous day was there and he was pecking at the remains of the fried chicken. Then another robin flew up and said, "Dude, that's bird meat. You're eating another bird."

Then Fluttershy and Twilight arrived on the scene. "Oh, you poor thing! What happened?" Fluttershy cried.

Joshy relayed a halting account of the previous night. "Ferret, said his name was Pinkie Pie, camped with me, gave him supper an' a blanket to sleep. Woke up this mornin', head achin', food gone, knife an' wand gone too. Huh, ferret gone an' all!"

Twilight looked at Fluttershy and shook her head. "That must have been Veil. First he tries to poison Pinkie Pie, then he steals her identity. I'll see what I can do for the hare."

"Oh, I say, are you an alicorn? I've heard legends about them. Capital creatures, wot?" Joshy chuckled as Twilight healed him with her horn.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle and this is Fluttershy," said Twilight.

"Pleased to meet ye. My name's William David Truman Joshua Stag Hare an' I'm a wizard. But you can call me Joshy, wot wot!"

"Okay, we will," said Twilight.

"What brings you to these parts?" Joshy asked.

"We're looking for the ferret, Veil," Fluttershy said.

"Veil? The fella told me his name was Pinkie Pie."

"Pinkie Pie is one of our friends from Ponyville," Fluttershy explained.

"Veil tried to poison her," Twilight added. "Instead he ended up poisoning many other ponies. Our princess banished him from Equestria, but Fluttershy wants to find him for some reason."

"Veil will be good someday. I just know it," Fluttershy insisted stubbornly.

"I guess the story he told me was a flippin' pack o' lies then," Joshy mused.

"Why did you even trust a ferret?" Twilight asked.

"Well, y'know, you can't just say that all creatures of a certain species are bad. When I used to live up in Noonvale, I had a friend who was a rat."

"You know he's actually Swartt Sixclaw's son?" Twilight asked him.

The hare's ears shot up. "Oh corks! An' I told him that Sixclaw was attackin' the badger mountain! Now he'll probably try to join up with his father, wot!"

"Maybe not," said Fluttershy. "Maybe we can catch up with him in time and I can convince him to come back and live in the Everfree Forest with me."

"Well, this is what I propose," said Joshy. "Your ferret friend is doubtlessly headed for Salamandastron, an' I'm goin' there too, to help in the battle. Why don't we all go together, wot? I can show you the way."

"That sounds like a good idea to me," said Fluttershy.

"Do you want to take some of this food with you?" Twilight asked.

"No, that's ok, I can conjure more whenever I jolly want t- Hang on a tick! No I can't! The blighter took my wand! Well, I suppose I'll have to take it back from him when we find him. Give me a little extra incentive, wot?"

He shook the ponies' hooves and the three of them set off, tracking the ferret once more.

P.S. Joshy Stag Hare is Basil Stag Hare's father.


	25. Chapter 25

Swartt Sixclaw sat roasting a mackerel by the fire, far down on the tideline, close to the rocks. He had not been able to capture the mountain. He was used to fighting woodlanders, but his horde couldn't handle the magical creatures. Those griffons and dragons had turned the tide of battle against him. Sunflash would probably have already killed Swartt by now if the ferret hadn't kept hiding behind his vermin soldiers.

Now the groups of hordebeasts crouched around their fires, too weary to do anything but eat, sleep, or lick their wounds. Swartt stared up at the rock, racking his brain for a solution. Within the next hour it presented itself, when Nightshade came up to him with a pink unicorn.

"Lord Sixclaw, you recall how you said that it was only the magic beasts that were standing between us and victory? Well, what if we had a magic creature on our side?"

Swartt looked at the unicorn. "Where'd ya find dat t'ing?" he snarled.

"She is called Starlight Glimmer. She is not of our horde. I do not know where she comes from, but you would be wise to listen to her offer."

"Awright, tell me why ya came here," Swartt said to Starlight Glimmer.

"I hear you've got an enemy," Starlight said.

"Are you offerin' ta kill 'im for me?"

"Well, I imagine you'd like to kill him yourself, with your own paws," the unicorn replied. "But of course you can't because he's much too powerful for you."

Furiously Swartt knocked her to the ground and pressed his switchblade to her throat. "Nobeast is more powerful dan me, Swartt Sixclaw. I oughta kill ya right now!"

Starlight Glimmer remained quite calm. "Oh, I don't think you'll want to kill me when you hear my plan. How would you like it if I took you back in time to a past in which your badger was still a child, and you could kill him without any trouble?"

Swartt straightened back up, his eyes shining. "You can do dat?"

"Oh, yes," Starlight answered. "There is a spell invented by a unicorn magician that can transport one back a week. But I've discovered how to modify the spell so that you could travel years into the past! I was planning to travel back in time to get my revenge on Twilight Sparkle and her friends in Ponyville." At the sound of the name Ponyville, Swartt growled, remembering his defeat there. "From what your vixen tells me, it sounds like the time period I want to go back to would be a good time for you to travel to and kill the stripedog as well. So what do you say? Have we got a deal?"

The Warlord nodded his head in admiration. "Da job's yours."

"Excellent," Starlight Glimmer said. "I'll find you when the spell's ready." Then she vanished, melting into the night.

Swartt threw the vixen a roasted mackerel. "Good work, at last you've done somethin' right. Stripehead is as good as dead, I'd say. Oh, when we get back from da past, ya know what ta do wid _her._ "

"Oh, yes, Lord. I know exactly what to do!" Nightshade replied.


	26. Chapter 26

THIS CHAPTER IS A BIT MORE VIOLENT THAN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. IF YOU ARE EASILY GROSSED OUT, YOU MAY WANT TO SKIP THIS ONE AS IT WILL NOT AFFECT THE OVERALL STORYLINE.

Veil had chosen a thick copse of pines for his camp. He brushed away the pine needles and dug a shallow hole, then he put steel to flint and made a small fire. Squatting by the flames, he ate some chicken and watermelon, then renewed the red on his paws with the watermelon juice. He was dozing, half asleep, when two foxes arrived. Their names were Britney and Rachel. They were both wearing pink polo shirts and they had big swords. Swartt Sixclaw had kicked them out of his horde for being too preppy.

Veil felt uneasy, but he tried striking up a conversation with his uninvited visitors. "Where did you come from, friends?" he asked.

"OMG, what a loser!" Britney squealed.

"Totally," Rachel agreed. "Look, he's got fried chicken and watermelon. He must be, like, a richbeast."

"Yah, stupid, too," said Britney. "Building a fire, like, out in the open where anybeast could totally see it!"

Veil decided he could let the situation go no further. Brandishing his knife, he stood up and shouted, "Keep your mangy paws off my vittles, you shallow preps!"

The foxes worked their way around the fire until they were on either side of him. The one called Rachel bared her teeth. "OMG, Britney, did u hear that? He, like, totally insulted us!"

Britney appropriated a piece of chicken. "He's a good cook though, LOL!" she said with her mouth full.

Veil grabbed at the chicken, his voice shrill with anger. "You leave my food alone, you dirty old… Unnhh!"

The young ferret had made the mistake of turning his back on Rachel. The preppy vixen walloped him over the head from behind with her designer handbag.

Veil came to his senses slowly, groaning at the triphammer throb in his skull. Both his paws were hoisted high, tied to an overhanging pine bough.

The two foxes were eating Veil's food, cramming watermelon and fried chicken ravenously into their mouths. Struggling against the tight bonds, Veil glared hatred at them. "Blundering fools, don't you know who I am? I'm Veil Sixclaw, son of Swartt the Warlord!"

Britney tore a strip from the blanket and did a low servile bow. "OMG, like, forgive us, your highness! LOL!"

Then she gagged the young ferret firmly, boxing his ears and pulling his nose painfully. "Son of a Warlord, y'don't say! I'm, like, the cousin of an eagle an' a great fish myself. What about you, Rachel?"

"Who, me? Oh, I'm the Queen of the flowery dell, pleased 2 meet your majesty, LOL!"

"LMAO!"

"ROFL!"

"ROFLMAO!"

"ROFLCOPTER!

"XD!"

Veil didn't understand any of this drivel. Forced to stand on tip-paw, bound and gagged, he could only glare at them and make whining sobs of rage.

An even shade of gray washed the sky the next morning, bringing dim-hued clouds and a steady downpour of rain. Fluttershy, Twilight, and Joshy gathered up their belongings hurriedly from their camp on the open hills.

"We'll be soaking an' cold if we don't find shelter soon," said Twilight. "Only fish like the rain."

Fluttershy pointed to the distant pine grove, saying, "Come on, let's make for there; we can camp in the trees until the rain stops."

Joshy took off, both paws over his head, calling back to the ponies, "Make a fire an' get breakfast goin'! Chap's gotta have 'is blinkin' scoff, wot wot!"

It was dim and dry in the half light of the close growing pines. They shook themselves off and began opening the saddlebags. Fluttershy stopped, sniffing the air.

"Smoke, I can smell burning," she said.

Joshy's nose twitched. "You're right, Fluttershy, somebeast has flames burnin' somewhere."

Twilight fastened her saddlebag and shouldered it. "It may be Veil, but then again, it may not be. Let's see who the fire belongs to."

Following the aromatic smell of burning pinecones, the three friends stole silently through the grove.

Fluttershy was first to spot the glow of flames between the trees. Taking care not to step on any twigs, they stole forward, then, bellying down in the springy carpet of pine needles, they peered over a fallen trunk at the scene in a hollow below.

Rachel and Britney were breakfasting off what was left of the food and hurling bones and melon rinds at the bound figure dangling from a pine bough.

Fluttershy seized Twilight's hoof. "Look, it's Veil! Those two foxes must have captured him!"

"They look like nasty beasts. What can we do?" Twilight pondered.

Joshy studied the situation below before answering. "Hmm, they're armed, we couldn't risk an open fight. But I think I might have an idea that will work." He took a pudding out of the pocket of his robe.

"Have you been carrying that around this entire time?" Twilight asked.

"Aye, marm. I always keep a bit o' puddin' in me pocket, wot!" Without another word, he threw the pudding at Britney. It hit her right on the nose and stuck there. The vixen was not pleased.

"OMG! Who threw that? Rachel, come over here and help me 2 get this pudding thing off my nose!"

"Well, like," Rachel said, looking at her companion rather dubiously, "I don't know if I can,but I'll like, try."

But instead of wiping the pudding off, she took her sword and tried to _cut_ it off. She got the pudding off Britney's nose, but she accidentally hacked off the nose too. Britney saw her severed proboscis on the ground and screamed.

"OMGWTFBBQ! U cut off my nose!" She drew her own sword and chopped off one of Rachel's paws.

"U ruined my manicure!" Rachel screeched. The two of them started to fight and cut more parts off each other. Behind the log, Fluttershy and her friends averted their eyes. Even Veil was feeling grossed out.

The combat did not last long. Two heads soon fell to the forest floor, followed by two bodies.

"Well, I say, I didn't mean for that to end in such a final an' gory way," Joshy said after a pause.

"What did you think was going to happen?" Twilight panted.

"I suppose I didn't really think about it. I'm sorry."

Fluttershy uncovered her eyes. Trying not to look too hard at the ground, she flew to the tree where Veil was tied and freed him. "Veil. Poor Veil," she cried.

Veil tore away the gag from his mouth and yelled angrily at the Pegasus. "What in the name of blood and fur are you following me for?" Ignoring the hurt in Fluttershy's eyes, he continued. "Why don't you just leave me alone!"

Fluttershy was dismayed and puzzled at Veil's attitude. "But… but… we saved you from those evil preps! They might have ended up killing you, Veil!"

The young ferret stormed about the hollow, rubbing life back into his paws, which were still numb from being bound. "Well, I didn't need saving, see! I was ready to slip those ropes and grab one of their swords. I can look after myself without you running around trying to nursemaid me."

Just then, Joshy bounded over the log and retrieved his wand from Veil's pocket. "Never stow a wand in your pocket, laddie. Good way to lose a buttock, wot. An' you ought to be more grateful to Fluttershy here. She never did ought but good for ye."

"That's how much you know," Veil sneered. "If it wasn't for Fluttershy, I wouldn't have been kicked out of Ponyville in the first place."

Fluttershy placed a hoof gently on his shoulder. "Oh, Veil, you're so wrong. I've always been your friend. I care for you more than any creature living! I wouldn't have tried to get you in trouble on purpose… although you did poison Princess Celestia."

He shook her hoof off and leapt up. "Get away from me! Go on, get back to your precious Ponyville and spend your nights talking about me and what a bad lot I was. Veil the vermin Outcast!"

Twilight ran between Veil and Fluttershy. "You're nothing but a villain, with all your bad talk!" she shouted.

Veil was livid. "You see? You see how it is, Fluttershy? All these ponies hate me. They don't want me to come back. And I don't want to go back! I'm destined for better things than making _muffins_ and _cupcakes_ all day in a town where all the creatures are completely different from me."

"But you can't join up with your father!" Fluttershy sobbed. "All he thinks about is war and killing! You don't want to be like him, do you?"

"You knew…" Veil growled. "You knew who my father was all this time. And you never told me!"

He rushed at her, but Twilight knocked him back with a spell. "Stay away from Fluttershy!"

"Yeah, that's right. Everybeast wants to hurt Veil the Outcast."

"I don't want to hurt you," Fluttershy said.

Veil got up. "Princess Luna said my name means evil. Well, she's right. Anyway, it's not like I can just turn into a pony."

"Well, y'know, old chap, I could turn you into a pony if you wanted me to," said Joshy.

"Really?" A light gleamed in the ferret's eyes. "Okay, why don't you try it?"

"Ok," the hare wizard said as he stepped forward. He held up his wand.

Twilight could tell Veil was up to something and she called out, "Joshy, don't!" but it was too late. Before Joshy could do the spell that would turn Veil into a pony, the ferret snatched the magic wand and ran off into the trees.

"Oh, corks, he's done it again!" Joshy groaned. They tried to catch him and take the wand back, but Veil was too fast for them. As he ran, the ferret wondered if his father, the one called Swartt, was as tough and cunning as himself. Mentally Veil wagered that he wasn't.


	27. Chapter 27

Sunflash was in his bedchamber when Rainbow Dash came flying in panickingly. She crashed into the glass because she didn't see in time that the window was closed.

The Badger Lord opened it for her. "Rainbow, are you all right?"

"No! Something terrible has happened! I was spying on Swartt and I saw him talking with Starlight Glimmer!"

"Who is Starlight Glimmer?" Sunflash asked.

"Starlight Glimmer is an evil unicorn," Rainbow explained. "A few months ago, my friends and I went to a town where she had stolen the magic from all the other ponies there. Me and Twilight and Fluttershy and the rest managed to defeat her and restore the magic, but Starlight Glimmer got away in the end and we didn't know what happened to her until now. Anyway, I heard her tell Swartt that she would take him back in time so he could kill you in the past!"

Sunflash digested this information. "If he killed my past self, would I die in the present?"

"I don't know," Rainbow said, "but I wouldn't wanna take that chance. What are we gonna do?"

The badger set his jaw resolutely. "There's only one thing to do. I must kill Sixclaw now before he has the opportunity to travel back in time. I always knew it would come down to this in the end, just him and me."

Rainbow Dash spread her wings. "But remember, you said I could be right beside you when you faced down Swartt Sixclaw in the final battle."

"Of course," Sunflash replied, hefting his mace. "Let us go hunting together one last time, my friend."

They stole out of Salamandastron without telling anybeast where they were going, not even Bella.

Down on the beach, Swartt Sixclaw and Starlight Glimmer were getting ready to head north to set up the time portal. Swartt had his switchblade and his heater and a whole carton of cigarettes. "I still don't understand why we can't do da spell right here an' now," he complained.

The unicorn was patient. "Because a time portal must be created in a large open space, and this terrain is too rocky and rough to be a good site. Up on the High North Coast, there is much more room, and the beach is smoother."

But then they heard a loud war cry. "EULALIAAAA!"

Swartt turned over his shoulder and saw Sunflash and Rainbow Dash thundering toward the vermin camp.

"Hurry, Lord. Run! I'll detain them!" said Nightshade, notching an arrow to her bowstring.

Swartt kicked Starlight Glimmer savagely. "C'mon, get goin', unless ya wanna be slayed by da stripedog!" The ferret and the unicorn took off running down the beach.

"Running won't do you any good!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Sunflash is 20% cooler than you! You can't escape from a Badger Lor-"

She was cut off in midsentence as Nightshade loosed the arrow into her chest. The Pegasus fell to the ground, mortally wounded.

"Rainbow Dash!" Sunflash cried. He averted his gaze from his fleeing enemy and rushed to the pony's side.

"Forget about me. Go stop the ferret…" Rainbow Dash said.

"Rainbow," the badger wept. "Rainbow, my true friend."

"I see sunny glades…" Rainbow's voice trailed off as her eyes closed.

Nightshade was loading another arrow when Sunflash suddenly turned around and swung his mace. The heavy club smashed the vixen's bow to smithereens with a single blow. Nightshade turned on her heels and fled, not realizing in her panic that she was running right into the ocean. When she finally noticed, she was too far out to swim back. A great wave crashed over her head, consigning her to the deeps forever.

As the remaining vermin closed in on him, Sunflash's eyes turned a darker shade of red than ever before. The fighting blood of his badger sires coursed in his veins.

Not all of Swartt Sixclaw's forces perished that day. Many of the vermin ran away. But one thing was for certain. None of that horde would ever return to molest Salamandastron again.


	28. Chapter 28

Several days later, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, and Joshy were walking along a beach. They saw a great red ship suspended in the air between two cliffs.

"I say, I wonder how that blinkin' thing got up there, wot?" said Joshy.

"There must be a story behind it," Twilight agreed. "We should go up there and explore the ship. I think the two of us together could carry you and fly up there."

But Fluttershy didn't want to explore the red ship. "Have you two forgotten why we went on this journey? We're supposed to be searching for Veil."

"I don't know," said Twilight. "Veil made it pretty clear that he doesn't want to ever come back."

"Well, I'm goin' to keep on lookin' for him no matter what, if only to get my wand back," said Joshy. "But I don't see any bally harm in takin' a short rest."

Fluttershy realized she was outvoted. "Okay, I guess we can make a quick stop."

As they got closer to the ship, they saw a rope ladder hanging from a hole in the bottom. "This is perfect," said Joshy. "I don't have to fly. I can just climb up. Super wheeze, wot!"

He started to climb, but before he'd gotten three rungs up, a six-clawed paw reached out of the hole and cut the ropes with a knife. Joshy fell back to the ground. "I say! That was not enjoyable at all!" he complained.

"Veil!" Fluttershy cried. "That must be Veil up there!"

"Hold on," Twilight said.

But Fluttershy was already in the sky. "Veil wasn't always bad. He'll change one day, you'll see!"

"Heehee! He'll change! He'll change!" a voice echoed eerily. "Are you fools still following me?"

Veil was climbing out of one of the portholes, trying to get on top of the ship.

"Oh my goodness!" Fluttershy screamed. "Veil, stay still. We can fly you down!"

But Veil didn't listen. He jumped from the roof of the ship to the adjoining clifftop. Then he started climbing down the cliff with squirrel-like agility. Joshy had gotten up and he ran to the bottom of the cliff to intercept the ferret. "It's the end of the line for you, ye young miscreant!"

Veil was a short distance from the ground when he jumped over the hare's head, landing on his feet in the sand. "Stay back!" he yelled, drawing Joshy's wand.

The hare raised his paws placatingly. "Steady on, old chap. You don't know how to use that thing."

"Oh, don't I?" Veil sneered. He tried to do a spell, but he really didn't know any spells and also he was not a wizard. So instead he just poked Joshy in the eye with the wand and ran off down the beach, in a southerly direction.

Twilight and Fluttershy flew over to the wounded hare. "Joshy, is your eye all right?"

"Oh, yeah, it's fine, it's fine. Come on, we've got to catch that flippin' ferret!"

Veil was already out of their sight, but they could clearly see his tracks in the sand. They pursued him until they came to a place where several caves were dug into the side of the cliff. The ferret footprints led into one of the caves.

"Veil, are you in there?" Fluttershy called, zooming into the cave with almost Rainbow Dash-like speed. "Please wait for us!" The other two followed her.

But they saw that the cave was completely empty. "Where is he?" Fluttershy cried. "We saw his tracks leading in here! Where could he have gone!"

"The blighter must've fooled us by steppin' backwards in his own tracks," Joshy said.

A chuckle came from the mouth of the cave. "You're one perceptive beast, _William David Truman Joshua Stag Hare-_ Great seasons, what a stupid name!"

The three friends turned to see Veil rolling a boulder, blocking the cave entrance and trapping them inside.

The ferret's face was a picture of fiendish delight. "Hahaha! Now try and follow me, oafs!"

He could hear the frantic cries from the other side.

"Veil! What have you done!"

"Veil, you don't have to choose evil!"

"Let us out of here, wot wot!"

"Why don't you try moving it with magic, rabbit?" Veil laughed.

"Rabbit? Tchah! You, sirrah, are a cad an' a bounder!"

Veil turned and walked away. "Goodbye and good riddance!"

"Dat was neatly done!"

A big lean ferret wearing a black leather jacket and jeans was standing there, watching Veil and puffing on a cigarette. He had six claws on each paw, just like Veil. He came forward, walking around the young ferret, inspecting him curiously from ear to footpaw. Veil knew instantly that this was his father Swartt.

"Friends o' yours, were dey?" Swartt Sixclaw said.

Veil eyed the other coolly. "Don't have friends- they were my enemies!"

Swartt fixed the young ferret with his piercing gaze. "What's yer name?"

Veil felt he had been waiting for this moment all his life. "They call me Veil Sixclaw the Outcast! And I know who you are- Swartt Sixclaw the Warlord!"

They stood with their eyes locked, staring each other down.

Swartt smiled mirthlessly, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "You're a hard faced brat, ain't ya? Veil- who gave ya a name like dat?"

Before Veil could reply, Starlight Glimmer came splashing up the beach, saying, "I've found a path up to the top of that cliff. We can create the time portal up there."

Swartt turned to follow her. Veil ran after them. "What's a time portal? Are you going back in time? Can I help with anything?"

The Warlord brushed him aside contemptuously. "Stay outta my way, brat, I got enough trouble ta deal with!"

Veil was shocked. "Don't you understand? I'm your son!"

Swartt blew cigarette smoke in his face. "Buzz off, kid."

"You're just like all the rest, aren't you?" Veil said. "You don't want anything to do with me either."

Swartt and Starlight Glimmer started climbing up the cliff face. Veil followed at a distance, barely restraining his tears.


	29. Chapter 29

Sunflash had been tracking Swartt for days. He'd been just a step behind the ferret the entire time. He was heartbroken at Rainbow's death and almost wished he were dead himself, but he knew he had to stay alive so he could continue to protect the creatures of Mossflower Wood. Now his search had brought him to the High North Coast.

He heard Twilight Sparkle's voice. "Hello? Is anybeast there? We're trapped in here!"

Sunflash knew he was running short on time, but he couldn't ignore a friend in need. He rushed to the cave where the sound was coming from and saw the boulder blocking the entrance. With a cry of "Eulalia!" he swung his mace, smashing the rock to dust.

"Thank you," said Twilight. "I was afraid we were going to suffocate in there."

Sunflash saw Twilight and his jaw dropped. "What… you have wings…?"

"Yep, I'm an alicorn princess now, just like Celestia and Luna," said Twilight.

Joshy made an elegant leg. "I say, you must be Lord Sunflash the Mace, wot! My name is William David Truman Joshua Stag Hare an' I'm a wizard."

"We don't have a moment to lose," said Sunflash. "Swartt Sixclaw is somewhere nearby with Starlight Glimmer and they want to go back in time and kill me in the past."

"Oh no!" Fluttershy gasped. "They were just here a minute ago. We heard them say they were going up on the cliff to make a time portal. Veil is with them too."

"You mean Sixclaw's son? What's he doing- you know what, we don't have time, you can tell me later. Come on!"

Sunflash, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Joshy ran up the ledge, taking the same path Swartt, Veil, and Starlight Glimmer had taken.

Up on top, Veil was arguing with his father. "Why can't I go back in time with you? I could help with whatever you want to do."

"I told ya ta scram, ya little punk!" Swartt raged. "If ya don't watch out, I'll send ya over dat cliff!"

Just then Sunflash and his friends ran in. But they were too late. Starlight Glimmer had already created the portal, and all of them were transported back in time together!

So there they all were in the past, over twenty seasons ago. Everything was sepia-toned to show that it was the past.

"You dope!" Swartt shouted at his son. "You've ruined everyt'ing!"

Veil was hurt by his father's words. Then he wondered if Fluttershy had felt the same way when he had shouted at her.

Sunflash rushed at Swartt, but Starlight Glimmer did a spell and suddenly Sunflash was lying on the ground, bound by magical ropes. Then she tried to do the same to Twilight, but Twilight was ready for her. She blocked the spell with a spell of her own and then the two unicorns started dueling and shooting blasts of magic at each other.

Fluttershy bent down by Sunflash and tried to untie him, but she could not. The knots were too tight.

"Ya scummy little sneak!" Swartt roared, flicking his switchblade open. "I'm not lettin' any more ponies stand in da way o' my destiny!"

Veil struck Swartt hard in the face, making him drop the knife. "Fluttershy, get out of here. Run!"

Swartt flung himself on Veil, and while the ferrets fought, Fluttershy grabbed Swartt's switchblade. Hacking at the ropes binding the Badger Lord's paws, she screamed, "Get up! Sunflash! Get up!"

Swartt threw his son down and raised his heater for a shot he could not miss. "Da badger's mine!" he yelled.

Fluttershy looked up and saw Swartt pointing his gun at her.

"Leave Fluttershy alone!" Veil shouted and then… he jumped sexily in front of the bullet!

There was a bang and Veil fell to the ground. The sound made Starlight Glimmer stop attacking Twilight and turn her head in surprise. Fluttershy opened her mouth, but no scream would issue forth.

Swartt kicked his fallen son. "I told ya ta stay outta my way," he said. "And now, stripedog, I'm going t-"

He stopped short. There was a sword protruding through his chest! The ferret Warlord's eyes rolled back in his head as he slumped lifeless to the ground.

The young mouse who had just stabbed Swartt bent over and pulled his sword out of the ferret's back.

"I say, what might your name be?" Joshy Stag Hare asked.

The mouse turned to him with a heroic glint in his eye. "They call me Martin, son of Luke the Warrior. When my father left to fight the searats, he charged me with the responsibility of protecting this coast."

Martin cut Sunflash's remaining bonds. The badger stood up. "Thank you for saving us, Martin," he said. "My mother has told me a lot about you."

The mouse was puzzled. "How can that be? I don't know any badgers."

Fluttershy was sitting with Veil's head resting in her lap. The young ferret's eyes were clouding over. His breath was hoarse and shallow. Almost from the gates of Dark Forest he heard Fluttershy's voice echoing, "Oh, Veil, my Veil! You saved me… Why?"

"Go back to Ponyville… Shouldn't have followed me… Let me sleep!"

"I love you, Veil," Fluttershy whispered.

"Love… you… t…" The young ferret closed his eyes.

Fluttershy rocked him gently as she had done when he was a babe. Everybeast watched in silence, even Starlight Glimmer, though she had a scowl on her face.

After a long time, Joshy went over to Fluttershy and put his paw on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, miss."

"I couldn't save him after all," Fluttershy wept.

Twilight came and hugged Fluttershy. She wanted to say something comforting, but she couldn't think of the words. They just stood there, holding each other for what seemed like an eternity. The other creatures on the cliff stood there quietly.

Finally, Sunflash broke the silence. "So how are we going to get home?"

"Well, that's not a problem," said Joshy. "If I can just…" He bent over Veil's body and pulled his wand from the ferret's pocket. "There it is, wot. I can do a spell that'll take us back to the real time."

"Real time? What do you mean?" Martin the Warrior questioned.

"Afraid we can't answer that, old boy," Joshy said. "You're simply going to have to forget everything that happened here today."

"Come on, everybeast," Twilight said. "You too, Starlight Glimmer."

They all gathered around the hare, except for Martin. Joshy held up his wand and said a spell, and then they all disappeared.


	30. Chapter 30

Back in the real time, Sunflash and his friends headed down the cliffs to the shore. When they reached the bottom… Rainbow Dash was there waiting for them!

"What happened, dude?" she asked. "Did you go back in time? Did you stop Swartt Sixclaw?"

"Rainbow!" Sunflash spluttered. "I thought you were dead! Nightshade shot you with an arrow!"

"No, don't you remember? She tried to shoot me, but you smashed her bow before she could. Then she ran away into the ocean and drowned."

Sunflash was at a loss for words. Of course that was what had happened, except that Nightshade had killed Rainbow Dash before she died.

"It must be the jolly old butterfly effect, Sire," Joshy whispered in his ear. "I read about it in a book. Any action in the past, no matter how small, can alter the future."

Meanwhile, Starlight Glimmer was muttering to Twilight Sparkle, "This isn't over. I may not have gotten to do what I wanted to do yet, but I can recreate that spell at any time."

"Why do you hate us so much?" Twilight asked her, but Starlight Glimmer disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

The rest of the story is easily told. Twilight, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash went back to Ponyville. Sunflash went back to Salamandastron, and all the creatures that had come to help him returned to their homes as well. Joshy Stag Hare decided that a soldier's life wasn't for him, and instead of joining the Long Patrol, he went to live at Redwall, where he worked in the kitchens, conjuring magical food for the Abbeybeasts.

Now that his enemy was finally slain, Sunflash the Mace could live out the rest of his seasons in peace, along with his mother Bella. In time he changed his warrior name from Sunflash to the more gentle Sunstripe. Creatures traveled from far and wide to learn from his great wisdom, and he and Rainbow Dash remained friends until the end of their days.

Fluttershy was saddened by the loss of Veil, but she knew deep down that the world was better off without Swartt or Veil adding misery to it. Her experiences had made her a wiser pony.

Twilight Sparkle knew Starlight Glimmer was still a threat, but she resolved to cross that bridge when she came to it. In the meantime, she wrote a long letter to Princess Celestia, detailing all that had happened. The letter ended like this:

… _So it seems we were wrong. There was some good in Veil after all, though it cost him his life to show it. Veil's name may have had the same letters as Evil, but it also had the same letters as Live. He gave his life so that Fluttershy could live. And now his troubles have come to an end._


	31. Chapter 31

EPILOGUE: THE OUTCAST'S FINAL FATE

Back in the past, the gates of Dark Forrest receded from Veil's vision. He woke up in a strange bed, in a strange house. He was alive! A young vixen with a beehive hairdo and a poodle skirt was standing over him.

"I thought I was going to lose you for a minute there," the fox said. "Luckily I'm an expert healer. What's your name?"

"I… don't know." For almost the only time in his life, the ferret was telling the truth. His traumatic near death experience had erased all memory of his life. "Who are you? Why did you save me?"

"My name is Nightshade," said the fox. "I had a vision of you. I dreamed that I would find you on top of a cliff on the High North Coast. When I got there, there were some mice and other creatures nearby, but I didn't let them see me as I took you and brought you back to my home. There was another, older ferret lying dead on the ground next to you; he may have been your father. Anyway, the reason I saved you is because my visions said you would become a great warlord, and that together we could create a mighty army. And my visions never lie."

"A mighty warlord, eh? That sounds good," the ferret mused as he sat up. "If only I could remember my name."

"Well, if you can't remember, we can come up with a new name for you," Nightshade said. "In the meantime, why don't you change into these clothes?" She held up a black leather jacket and a pair of blue jeans.

The ferret put on the clothes. He rummaged in one of the pockets and found a switchblade inside. He held it up, flicking it in and out. It seemed to feel natural in his paw somehow.

Nightshade offered him some cigarettes and they smoked for a while. The ferret felt like a real rebel.

Suddenly Nightshade leaped up and said, "I've just thought of the perfect name for you! You have six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, so why don't we call you… SWARTT SIXCLAW."

"Perfect!" said Swartt Sixclaw. He tried to adopt a tougher voice. "I mean, poifect."

And that is the story of how Veil, the Outcast of Equestria, became his own father.

THE END… AND THE BEGINNING


End file.
